White Wings
by Icarus Israfel
Summary: Cloud is new to the Shinra military, and is an aspiring SOLDIER -- someday hoping to become like his mentor, Sephiroth. Little does he know, making friends with a particular SOLDIER Second Class, Zack Fair, will get him more than close to his mentor.
1. Chapter 1

Zack poked his head in through the small crack in the door, only to discover that things had not been as he had assumed. It was dark, and silent.

"Yo! Wakey, Wakey!" he called as he burst through the door and flicked on the lights, "Where's the all-night-party? You guys are about to make it into SOLDIER, you should be celebrating!"

The cadets all groaned and there was a collective sound of restlessness.

"I said" he paused to find the particular victim that he wanted to humiliate the most, "get....up!" upon finishing, he tore the blankets off of a still-asleep, blanket-cocooned lump with spiked blond hair.

As the blanket flew high into the air, Zack slumped with dissapointment, for the boy who was the lump was still sleeping, in full uniform, and surrounded by military manuals.

"Aww... Come on, Cloud! I expected you to be half-naked and trying to hide all the non-regulation booze you drank last night in celebration!" Zack whined while Cloud yawned and rolled over.

Another private by the name of Nathan approached, and laid a hand on Zack's shoulder.

"He fell asleep last night reading up for the test. We had to put the blanket on him. Poor kid... he's got the worst nerves of all of us. Not that I'm saying we aren't nervous, don't get me wrong, just some more than others..." said Nathan with a sad sigh and a shrug.

Zack scoffed good-naturedly and leapt upon the sleeping cadet.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty! Your prince charming has arrived!"

Cloud lerched upward, only to hit his head on the bunk above his and simultaneously collide with Zack. He slowly laid back down in defeat, moaning in pain.

"Oh... I see. I guess it doesn't work unless I administer the_ magic kiss_!"

Cloud attempted to roll about underneath Zack, but could not manage his freedom. He did, however, manage to dodge all of Zack's kisses.

"Lieutenaaaaant!" he whimpered as he wriggled his arms out from underneath Zack's knees and began swatting.

Zack, as well as the other men in the room, had a good laugh at Cloud's expense, and then he dismounted.

Cloud looked distraught as Zack sat down on the bottom bunk beside him.

"Almost time for your test, you know. It's 0600 hours now, and it starts at 0700, am I right?" he grinned from ear to ear.

Cloud's face turned a paler shade as he moaned once more and began pelting Zack with military manuals.

"Hurry, quiz me! I have to prepare!" he said as he began doing squats beside the bed, "Aww, Zack! I'm gonna fail, I know I am!"

Zack scoffed again and laid back on the bed, tossing aside the manuals and crossing his arms behind his head.

"Your pillow smells good, Spikey. What kind of shampoo do you use?" he asked as he closed his eyes.

Cloud paused for a moment in his quats and glowered at Zack.

"Seriously! You're my friend, right, Lieutenant, sir? I need help!"

Cloud was positively frantic.

Zack giggled and rolled over to face Cloud as the sqats kept coming.

"You're so cute when you're nervous."

Cloud's face turned a reddish shade, then, but not an improvement from the terrified shade of white he previously was.

Nathan shifted his weight and gave Zack a critical look.

"You've already made it, Zack. Why don't you leave us grunts alone to study?"

Zack pinched his face up into something that looked remarcably like an old woman.

"What's to study? All you have to do is beat a Turk. They're pansies, regardless of how they get paid more than us SOLIDERs do."

Cloud thought aloud, "I wonder how they pick which Turk to assign to which cadet..."

"Well, the written test is first. Then the Turks come. But the written test is a peice of cake. Questions like 'which is a better mount for long-ranged missions: A black chocobo, a blue chocobo, or a yellow chocobo?'"Zack laughed and reached out to grope Cloud's buttocks but Cloud dodged it and resumed his squats.

"Thats...a black...chocobo... right?" Cloud asked, finally beginning to get out of breath.

"Um. Yeah," Zack replied in a "no shit sherlock" sort of tone.

Cloud looked downtrodden and directed his countenance to the ground. He decided that it was better to simply keep his mouth shut, should he not want his pride to be dashed any more than it already had with the mauling and attempted molestation by Zack.

Nathan sat on the bottom bunk across from Zack and put his elbows on his knees.

"Any other questions you want to give us the answers to?" he asked with a sly grin upon his face.

Zack opened his mouth with an offended expression upon his face, but before anything could come out of it, he paused and his expression then turned from offense to oportunity. "What's in it for me?"

Nathan raked his fingers through his short red hair and sighed.

"Booze."

"And?"

Nathan gave him a challenging glare.

"I'll get you a date with my sister."

"Haven't seen your sister. She cute?"

"She's my sister, man! I don't know!"

Zack stretched then, and stood patting Cloud on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Well, I guess I don't know if I want to help you, then."

Nathan growled under his breath something profane and was defeated.

"She's got a nice body, I guess."

"You guess?"

"She's attractive, okay?"

Zack had caught Nathan in his perverse trap then, and proceeded to guffaw like a drugged boar.

"Nathan's got the hots for his own sister! Aw, man, you're nasty!" he cried in laughter.

"What the hell?! Zaaaack!" Nathan groaned as he pushed Zack back onto the bunk that he had previously occupied.

"First your sister, and now me? You deviant!" Zack laughed so hard that tears ran down his face.

Cloud's squats stopped, and he took a moment to catch his breath.

"I think it's time to go," he said as he began to don a clean uniform.

"Ooh, a show!" Zack teased as he pulled out a few gil from his pocket and began to shove it into Cloud's newly exposed boxer-shorts, "Do a little dance!"

"Zack, I think it's about time you left the cadets to their preparations," sounded a voice from the still-open barracks door.

Zack opened his mouth to speak, but when he turned to face the voice, he closed his mouth and merely grinned.

In the door stood a man clad in black leather and steel pauldrons. Silver hair spilled down his back, and framed a face that could have been sculpted by an artist. His eyes were a glowing, mako-green and given accent by the downwardly inclined eyebrows. His expression was blank, but his tone was annoyed.

"Seph! I was wondering when you were going to announce to the noobs that you're going to be their evaluator today!" Zack blurted out before giving a pause and then assuming an apologetic countenance, "Oops."

Sephiroth did not make a sound, but rather merely made a motion with his chin signalling Zack to leave.

"All right, All right. I get it. I can see when I'm not wanted anymore," said Zack as he left, adding just before he closed the door, "You know you love me!"

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder briefly to recieve Zack's final remark, and then regarded the cadets, retaining his air of dignity and grace.

"It is time to begin your assessments. You are all expected to report to the education wing of the 54th floor for your written tests. Then you are to report to the 49th floor for your physical evaluation. Those who fail the written test will return to the barracks and will not get the privelage of taking the physical evaluation," he said soberly.

Cloud could feel the sweat beginning to bead on the back of his neck.

It was him. It was General Sephiroth, the Demon of Wutai, the poster-boy of Shinra Electric Inc.

Cloud could barely breath at the sight of his idol standing not a few yards away from him, for he had only seen him once before in person. He was in the cafeteria, eating at the table he sat at with Zack every day, when he entered the room, looking rather out of place. Zack had stood up and ran over to him. They had exchanged words, and it looked like Zack invited him to sit down and eat with them, but Sephiroth had declined politely and left. Cloud could think of nothing else to talk about for the next few weeks, and, in turn, had Zack thouroughly convinced that Cloud had a crush on the General.

In the barracks, nothing moved for what seemed to be a decade.

"Now."

Sephiroth broke the silence with his solemn command and opening the door.

The written test was simple enough. Cloud found Zack's statement regarding the simplicity of the answers to be true.

_In the event of being separated from your party during a mission, what materia should you always have equipped?_

_A. Cure Materia_

_B. Summon Materia_

_C. Bolt, Fire, or Ice Materia._

_D. Time Materia and Cure Materia._

Cloud marked D as his final answer, and took a few moments to look through his finished test for errors. None.

Standing, and making his way to the front of the classroom that he had been assigned to test in, he handed his paper to the proctor and awaited his judgement.

The proctor looked over the test quickly, as if she had memorized each answer, making no red marks while she went with her pen.

The rule with the written test was that in order to pass, every question must be answered correctly. Even one incorrect answer could cause a cadet to wait an entire year until the next SOLDIER admissions test.

Finally, Cloud was allowed to move onto the physical assessment.

As he exited the classroom, he exhaled deeply and found himself leaning against the wall and laughing rather loudly.

"What's so funny, Spikey?" asked Zack.

Cloud jumped in surprise, "When did you get here?!"

"Been waiting for your slow ass to finish. You passed, then?"

Cloud could only smile a face-splitting smile of accomplishment and giggle like a schoolgirl.

Zack laughed along with him for a while before concluding with a few _Ahh_s.

"So... Ready to perform for the General? The last kid to start the test is almost done. Come on!"

With that, Zack grabbed Cloud's arm and hauled him off to the elevator.

The ride down the five floors was filled with Zack giving the third degree. Question after question about the written exam. Cloud could only grin at his acheivement, and after a while of his euphoric silence, Zack began to pout at being ignored.

Cloud was getting closer and closer to his dream of becoming a First Class SOLDIER. Just like General Sephiroth. Only a few more years to go. And as long as he worked his hardest and put all that he could into becoming just like his idol, he couldn't fail. Nothing could shatter his confidence now, not even Zack.

As they approached the door to the nearest training room that would be used for the physical evaluation, the door opened, and out came two uniformed Shinra nurses carrying a stretcher with an apparently failed cadet sprawled out across it.

Cloud's mood was decimated then. His complexion went white as he watched the maimed cadet be carried away to the infirmary. Zack only laughed.

"Come on, kid, you're gonna do just fine. Don't worry about that guy! He's a pussy anyways," Zack chimed in an attempt to cheer up his friend.

"S...see you in the infirmary, Leiutenant..." Cloud whispered as Zack eventually shoved him into the training room.

The walls of the room were all clad in tiles that glinted in the small ammount of light that was allowed into the room via a window that was the entire eastern wall. On the other side of the window were two men. Director Lazard, the Director of SOLDIER, and the one person Cloud did not want to fail in front of the most. General Sephiroth.

He winced at the sight of the Director and the General and drew his sword from the holster upon his back. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself, but his heart would not stop racing. All he could feel was fear, and he could not stop glancing to Sephiroth, desperately hoping that he would have to leave for an urgent assignment in Wutai and not return for several months. He did not want his idol to see him fail.

Director Lazard's voice came in on the intercom, "Private Cloud Strife, are you ready? You are to defeat Cissnei, of the Turks."

"I'm...ready..." Cloud choked, his voice cracking and creating a high note in the middle of his speech.

Suddenly, he was in a jungle in Wutai. The sounds of the wildlife were all too real, regardless of how he knew he was in a Shinra training room that created environments via hologram.

Cloud could not find the will to move. He merely stood there, sword clutched tightly within his two hands that were held awkwardly before him. He was terrified of failure.

A sound echoed forth from the brush behind him, causing him to whirl round. Sweat was dripping from his chin. His heartbeat was audible, and he could feel it in his ears, for they no doubt were bright red, as were his cheeks.

He could not allow himself to fail before Sephiroth, or the Director. He was going to become a First Class SOLDIER, even if it risked being banged up by a Turk. He would not fail.

Slowly, he moved towards the sound, and it sounded again, this time creating visible disturbances in the leaves of the shrub. Letting out a sound of effort, he struck with all of his strength at the shrub, but hit nothing. His sword was stuck in the ground. Panicing, he began to try to pull it out.

"Behind you," whispered a female voice not a few inches from his ear.

With that, Cloud was struck down by a painful blow from a boot to his ribs. He fell to the floor, leaving his sword stuck in the ground.

A young woman, hair wavey and auburn, and dressed in a black suit and tie had her weapon at his neck.

"That's enough, Cissnei. Private Strife, you have failed the physical evaluation. Please exite through the door that you have entered through," Director Lazard said through the intercom as the jungle scene melted away and the Turk and the cadet were returned to the training room.

Cissnei bowed to Cloud and offered to help him up. Mechanically, he put his hand in her's and got up.

"Sorry, but it's my job," she said sweetly.

Cloud just nodded numbly, and she left.

He turned, then, his stomach in knots at what he would see.

Sephiroth's face read nothing. His arms were crossed coldy across his chest. Cloud could see nothing in his expression besides what he saw in his eyes, which was pure annoyance. Then, their eyes met, and it became palpably apparent that he was angry.

Cloud ran out of the room as fast as he physically could.

Now, Cloud would have been pleased if he could have simply ran down the hall, hopped on the elevator, gotten to the barracks, and laid in his bed for a few years, but that would have been too easy. As soon as he left the training room, Zack was standing just outside of the door, and he collided with him.

"Whoa, whoa, there! You passed?" he smiled.

Cloud could barely see at this point, his vision blurring. Tears were welling in his eyes.

Zack took a moment and then, for the first time in a long while, looked genuinely serious.

"Let's go, Cloud..." he said softly as he draped an arm around the blond's shoulder and led him into the elevator.

The second the elevator doors closed, Cloud could hold it in no longer. Tears began to fall from his eyes like dumbapples from their trees, plump and heavy.

Zack wrapped his arms around Cloud, and patted the back of his head gently.

"It's okay, Spiky... Next year, you'll know all the answers to the written test, so you wont have to spend so much time in there," he paused, trying his hardest to think of things to cheer up the heart-broken Cloud, "And I'll bring you along on some of the more violent missions to that you get used to fighting!"

Zack pushed Cloud away gently so that he could assess his face, to see if he had done a good job. However, Cloud's face was downward-cast and his eyes hooded with their lids. Tears still streaked his face.

"What happened?"

Cloud took a moment to find breath and replied, "I froze up, and wasn't thinking right."

Zack made a sound of understanding.

"How come?"

Cloud hesitated.

"I wont tease. Pinky-swear," promised Zack.

Cloud looked up to Zack, and met eyes with him sadly.

"I was afraid to fail in front of Sephiroth."

Zack nodded and patted Cloud's back.

"Well... I could introduce you two. He's really just a big softie once you get to know him!" he said, smiling.

"I think it would be better if I never saw him again," whispered Cloud.

The next morning, Zack did not come bursting in and leaping about on people's bunks. There was no attempted molestation, and there was no teasing. There was only empty bunks.

The beds of those who had made it into SOLDIER were empty, yet to be reassigned to new recruits. The cadets that had failed were all sprawled about the barracks, or on missions.

Cloud had not been given a mission, but he was due for city patrol in three hours. He had sector six, along with a few other cadets who had failed. That was sure to be a pleasant "bitch-fest", as Zack would have put it.

Cloud's eyes wandered throughout the room sluggishly, lingering on the military manuals strewn about the room. Books could not prepare some one for fear, he thought. No matter what sort of pictures it had.

Just as soon as the clock on the wall read 0800, Cloud stood and began to make his way to the location at which he was to meet up with his party and begin his patrol. Although, nothing ever seemed to go as planned. On his way out of the building, he saw Zack setting up the tack on three chocobos. All three were black.

Zack flailed his arm about in a stupid sort of wave, and called out to Cloud.

"Hey, noobie, I got you reassigned! You're with me this morning. We're going to check out some areas int the woods outside of the city where a nasty has been reported. A big one, too. Exciting, huh?" he beamed with pride.

Cloud scratched his head and looked to the ground.

"Thanks, Zack, but I think I would rather just do my usual patrol. I don't think I'm cut out to fight the monsters you're assigned to."

Zack pursed his lips and knit his brows in thought for a moment, before resorting to authority.

"Private Strife, as you are part of my platoon, I order you to accompany me on this mission."

Cloud looked up to Zack, hurt.

"Y...yes, Lieutenant Fair..." he replied before conceding sadly to assist in the saddling of the chocobos.

The saddling of the chocobos was silent for a long while before Cloud finally forgave Zack.

"Who is the third chocobo for?" he asked quietly, a small apology for being childish in the first place.

"Sephiroth, of course," beamed Zack.

"What?!"

"Yup. He doesn't really have anything better to do besides paperwork, and the President wants to make it look like Shinra makes protecting Midar its number one priority, so they're sending their number one guy."

"A rather blunt way of putting it." said the General as he approached.

The only thing that caught Cloud's eye more than Sephiroth's emerald-marble eyes was the Masamune resting at his hip.

"G..General Sephiroth! It's an honor to meet you!" stuttered Cloud as he sketched a salute.

Sephiroth moved past him without a word.

"Leiutenant."

"Right-o!" replied Zack as they mounted.

Cloud pivoted and ran to his chocobo and sloppily mounted. By the time that he had secured himself on the saddle, Sephiroth was setting off. Zack, however smiled back to him and said, "Don't worry. He's like that with every new person he meets."

Cloud heaved a sigh and followed after Zack as he set off.

The three militants rode in single file, for their skill in riding was directly proportional to their positions in line. Sephiroth rode with ease, able to keep his bird at a solid lope while holding himself slightly above the saddle using the muscles in his thighs. Zack was much the same, save for how he allowed his bird to slow in its gallop occasionally. Cloud simply let the bird to it's best to keep up, and was only able to keep himself above the saddle for short periods of time, resulting in a very sore bottom.

When night fell, their search came to a pause. Sephiroth released the reigns from one hand and signalled a stop. The first in thirteen hours.

Zack and Cloud went about setting up camp alone while Sephiroth patrolled the area for threats.

"So? Chocobos are cute, huh?" asked Zack in a sad attempt at conversation.

"I named mine Cissnei."

"What? After that Turk girl? Why?" asked Zack, half laughing.

"Because both that chocobo and that Turk have kicked my ass in the past two days," replied Cloud.

Zack laughed and took Cloud up under an arm, "Next year, you'll know what to look out for. Don't worry, Cloud."

Cloud forced a smile. While riding, he had decided that he would make the best of tonight. What were the odds that the General would remember _his _exam, out of everyone who he observed that day? Cloud resolved to enjoy the presence of his idol and the opportunity to improve on his skills as a warrior.

"Good to see you're feeling better, though," Zack said quietly, "You know I can't stand to see a friend cry."

Cloud looked away quickly, his face turning red.

"Uhh... Do you have enough wood for the fire, yet?" he asked.

Zack just laughed absently and tossed some branches that he had collected from around the site into a pile in front of Cloud.

In a matter of moments, Cloud had a fire started and Zack had a flask of burbon opened.

"How come you never get drunk, Cloud?" asked Zack, "You should drink more often!"

"I don't like the taste..."

"Nonsense! Everyone loves liquor!" sang Zack as he put the flask to Cloud's mouth, plugged his nose, and began to pour.

Cloud began flailing his arms about wildly and making sounds of distress, trying to get out of Zack's mako-fueled hold. In vain. Painfully, Cloud forced himself to swallow the burning liquid until Zack was satisfied.

"There you go. That ought to loosen you up," announced Zack, obviously proud of himself, "You ever notice how your hair is really spikey? Like... a porcupine! Porky-porcupine! Can I call you Private Porky? I think I'll call you Private Porky."

Cloud's vision began to fade in and out of bluring. Suddenly, he brought his hand up over his mouth and ran into the surrounding woods. The burbon hurt just as much coming out as it did going in.

When he came to return to camp, Sephiroth was sitting upon the forest floor beside Zack, silently enduring his teasing.

"Seph...Seeeeephyyyyy... You ever notice how your hair kinda looks like antennas in the front? Hehe... You look like a bug. A butterfly, cause when you run your hair goes everywhere and looks like butterfly wings! How long does it take you to wash all of that hair? How long does it take to comb it? OOH! How long does it take to style it?" Zack paused for a moment and a grin so evil it could be mistaken for that of the monster they were sent to destroy came across his face, "Is that your real hair color?"

Sephiroth looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"I see no similarities between myself and an insect. I have no probiscus."

"And what about your hair?"

Cloud took this opportunity to sit beside Zack and look busy tending to the fire.

"I have never attempted to calculate how long it takes for me to groom myself."

"You're no fun," said Zackin finally, leaning back and then turning his attention to Cloud.

"Hey! Seph, meet Cloud. He's a good buddy of mine."

Cloud snapped upright and saluted, his palms sweaty.

"Private Strife, a..at your ser..service, General," he blurted out shakily.

"At ease, Private," said Zack in a voice that clearly mocked Sephiroth's.

There was a long, awkward silence then. Only the fire crackling, the light reflecting off Sephiroth's pauldrons as he gazed deeply into it for a long while.

"I remember you," he said after long last.

"M...me, sir?" Cloud asked, the feeling of knots being tied in his stomach starting to return.

"Your physical evaluation, yesterday..." he hesitated, and then locked eyes with Cloud, his face reading the very same annoyance, the very same anger as it did when Cloud met eyes with him in the training room, "was the worst that I have ever seen."

At that moment, Cloud could not think to breath. He could not move. He could not think. Tears could not even form in his eyes.

Zack leapt to his feet and took a defensive stance against Sephiroth.

"Sephiroth! The only reason why he screwed up yesterday was because he was nervous about being in front of you! Don't be so mean to the poor kid!"

Sephiroth looked up to Zack, his expression still made of stone, but hinted at confusion.

"It is not 'mean'. I am stating fact."

Zack glared at him and put a hand on Cloud's shoulder.

"He's a good kid. He was just afraid of failing in front of you," Zack released Cloud and sat down beside Sephiroth once more, "Remember the first time they made you fight?"

"No, I do -- " there was a silence then, as his features hinted at sadness, "...I suppose you're right. My apologies, Private Strife."

Cloud sat down once more, still heart-broken.

Zack looked between the General and the Private a few times.

"So, Cloud, why don't you tell Seph, here, about your manual fetish."

"M..manual fetish?!" Cloud threw his hands up in front of him and shook his head, "I don't have a manual fetish, sir, honest!"

"Oh, really? Because I remember finding you sleeping with a few of them!"

The punchline of Zack's joke left no one laughing besides himself.

"Are you afraid of me, Private?" asked Sephiroth thoughtfully, gazing into the fire.

Cloud, surprised, was quick to answer, "I'm sorry sir, It's just that I've read so much about you..."

Sephiroth looked up to him, his gaze once again angry.

"Afraid the Demon of Wutai will send you off to go fight in the war? Or are you afraid that I'll kill you myself?"

Zack sighed heavily and decided that the matter would have to be sorted out among the two.

"What? No! I'm just... just... I don't know.... I'm sorry for offending you, sir. I just like you is all..."

Sephiroth regarded him with his stone features. It took Cloud a moment to figure out that he was confused.

"You see... I admire your work... and I've always wanted to... well.... yeah... I'm sorry, sir..."

"Oh."

Zack fell back and laid on the grassy earth, crossing his legs, "That means he's sorry for being a douche-bag about how you're nervous," he said cheerily.

"Once again, I see no similarities between myself and the things to which you compare me. How am I similar to a feminine cleaning product?"

Zack could not withstand the temptation to burst into laughter at this. He was left rolling around, tears of laughter flooding his face.

"I don't think you're a douche-bag, sir... And I don't think you look like a butterfly either..." Cloud said quietly.

"Oh, quit kissin' ass, Cloud! You're only doing it because you have a crush on the illustrious General!" giggled Zack.

"A crush?!" Cloud fell off of sitting on his knees, and onto his rump, catching himself by planting his palms into the ground.

"Damn right, a CRUSH!"

"What is... 'crush'?" asked Sephiroth soberly, the only calm voice among the three.

"Sir?" Cloud asked.

"What is 'crush'?" he repeated.

Zack stopped laughing and his face metamorphosed into total sadness.

"Sephiroth... I'm sorry, we shouldn't have. I was only playing, I'm sorry..." he said quietly.

"What is it?" his voice was solid.

Cloud scratched the back of his neck and, with bright red cheeks, replied, "A crush, sir...is.... like... when some one sees somone that they want to... you know... be with."

"Why would there be a word for wanting to be in a person's presence?" he asked.

"Uhh... well... you know..." Cloud could feel sweat on his brow.

"No, Private, I don't know," Sephiroth's voice betrayed frustration.

"A crush is... when some one wants to be in a relationship with another person.... like... romantically...."

Sephiroth looked down to the fire, his hair falling to cover his features.

"I see."

"Seph... I'm sorry..." whispered Zack.

"No. I'm sorry for being ignorant."

No one said anything for several minutes. The fire was all there was filling the gap in the air where speech should have been.

"Why... does Private Strife want to be in a romantic relationship with me? There would be no benefit, seeing as how only members of the opposite sex can reproduce," asked Sephiroth.

"Sephiroth... I can tell you later, if you want. I don't want you to..." Zack began.

"No, Zack... the General wouldn't be asking us if he didn't want to. He doesn't waste words," Cloud cut in, "General, sir, Zack was making a joke that I wanted to have a romantic relationship with you because you're my idol, and I try to be like you in every aspect of my life..."

Sephiroth nodded slightly.

"I see. I apologize for my social ignorance. Please excuse me," he uttered before standing and walking swiftly into the surrounding darkness.

Zack looked to Cloud and mussed his hair.

"Well, now I have to tell you. Sephiroth was raised at Shinra. Ever since he was born, he was a SOLDIER. They raised him in the labs. He didn't have parents, Cloud. He was alone his entire life until he was eighteen. He's never had a crush. He's never had a lot of things," said Zack in a hushed tone.

"So he -- " Cloud was cut short as Sephiroth returned, a dead rabbit in hand.

"For you. I realize that you do not have mako in your system, so you cannot go for as long as Zack and I without food," he said as he set up a spit across the fire, and gutted the animal.

He impaled the dead rabbit on the spit and allowed it to roast.

Cloud's face went hot, and he knew that he was blushing.

"Th...thank you, sir..."

He was so dangerous. A man known to kill thousands single-handedly, and yet his tall, muscular exterior, and long cascade of silver hair gave him the appearance of an angel. His high cheekbones, thin lips, and square jaw made him just barely balance on the border of handsome and beautiful. Almost feminine, but not quite. He sat then with one knee bent upright so that he could rest an elbow atop it, his hair pooling on his shoulders with a few small tendrils that dared to break from the general mass of silver and hang over his shoulders, and on his chest.

"No need for thanks. I do not want to be responsible for the loss of a Shinra cadet due to starvation."

Zack chuckled and threw his arms around both Cloud and Sephiroth, "Aww.... You two are getting along so well! Play nicely, and uncle Zack will share his liquor."

After Zack had fallen asleep, flask in hand, Cloud had wandered off in search for the source of a distant sound of running water.

Sephiroth had dissapeared again, claiming to not need sleep, and that he would patrol the area for the monster while Cloud and Zack slept. Cloud however, could not sleep. He was still dirty and sweaty from the day's ride and wanted a place to bathe.

Finally, he came upon a spring into which a small water-fall flowed. Relieved to finally be able to clean himself, Cloud began stripping himself of his clothing.

"Strife."

Cloud turned round, only having gotten his shirt off, and regarded the deep, velvet stone voice that had addressed him.

"General? I'm sorry... I guess I shouldn't go out here alone... I just wanted to -- "

Sephiroth shook his head, signalling for him to be silent.

"Why do you have a crush on me?"

Cloud blushed and replied, "I... I don't, sir..."

"Right," he paused, allowing a change in subject, "My apologies for interrupting."

With that he turned and resumed his patrol.

Even with Sephiroth gone, Cloud could not manage to disspell his blushing cheeks. He finished undressing and folded his uniform neatly by the water, before submerging himself in the cool cleanness of the spring.

After about an hour of bathing, Cloud felt that the water mixed with the cold nighttime air was beginning to give him frostbite. He emereged from the water and shook his head of wet hair. Mechanically, and yet shivering, he put his clothes back on, and moved back to camp.

Moving through the woods, sounds of battle became audible. Cloud panicked. He began to run, he didn't know in what direction.

Somewhere, in the forest so dark and deep, he knew the monster that they had been hunting lurked. The very same feeling of fear that restricted all rational thought that he had felt going up against Cissnei. Save for this time, he was running.

He, indeed, had his sword upon his back for he did not want to venture out alone without it, but it was only dead weight to him and he knew it. He would never be able to stand against a monster assigned to First and Second Class SOLDIERS. He was only a cadet.

Suddenly, he hit something hard and warm.

As Cloud looked up, he could see nothing but a long streak of silver, and a large, glowing ball of flame.

The flame hovered a ways above the ground, and had eyes like the very essence of darkness. It's grin was jagged and mocking. It was a bomb, a monster of fire that was known to self destruct on a whim, almost sure to kill any who were too close. And Cloud was certainly too close.

However, a silhouette with a solid streak of silver down it's back stood between Cloud and the bomb.

As Cloud came to his feet, he saw another streak of silver, long and thin. It was a blade that must have been seven feet in length. With speed almost too intense for Cloud to detect, the streaks of silver danced, the longer one cutting through the bomb's body of flame, and the other moving in the wind gracefully.

With sudden impact, Cloud realized that it was General Sephiroth who fought the monstrous bomb.

How could he just stand there?

How could he let the General risk his life to protect him?

The fear was gone then, replaced with a motivation to protect the General.

Cloud ran at the bomb, weaving his way around the wisps of sleek, swift silver. And, with a mighty battle-cry, Cloud swung his sword at the bomb. The bomb, though, was not going to be had so easily. It dodged the blow, and Cloud countered with another swing.

A sound like the very air being sliced rang, and there was a blade mere centimeters away from Cloud's ear. It was the Masamune. He turned to face Sephiroth, who's face was empty and full of resolve. They locked eyes then, and the General disappeared. Cloud must have gotten in his way.

Moving once again with speeds too advanced for the unaltered human eye, Sephiroth charged towards the bomb, and then leapt into the trees, seeming to have fled the scene of the battle.

Cloud was left alone, standing before the massive ball of flame. Slowly, it began closing in on him. Cloud felt his back hit a tree and his sword fall from his hand. He could not scream.

The bomb made a sort of laughing sound, deep and crackling, and then began inhaling vast amounts of air, swelling like a balloon about to pop. It was going to self-destruct.

Upon the third intake of air, the silver wisps reappeared, falling from the canopy. Sephiroth drove the Masamune into the bomb from above, pinning it to the ground. He released the Masamune, then, leaving in the bomb, and landed before Cloud. There was a blue light that shone from his forearm, and then the bomb was engulfed in a swirling rage of water that seemed to materialize from nowhere. It was slain.

Sephiroth moved over to the doused corpse of the bomb and reclaimed the Masamune, then turning to Cloud, his face still empty of emotion, and even thought. He seemed as hollow as the heartless killer of the Wutain front that he was told to be.

"Have you suffered any physical harm?" he asked, more a demand than a question.

Cloud shook his head in awe.

"Good. Mission accomplished. Let us return to camp and inform the Lieutenant."

Cloud merely nodded and followed after the General as he wove his way through the trees. Eventually, the sight of firelight was seen through the brush.

"Wake up, Lieutenant. Cloud and I have accomplished your mission for you."

Zack opened an eyelid and grinned mischievously.

"I guess it's a good thing you two wanted to meet so badly, otherwise I would have had to do my own mission. Imagine that..." he yawned in mid-sentance, "...me doing my own missions. Hah!"

Cloud's numbness caused by his awe at Sephiroth's battle in the woods faded then, as the conspiracy unfolded.

"Wait a moment! You told me that he was already assigned to this mission!" Cloud exclaimed as he took an embarrassed step backwards.

"Well, I lied. Surprised?" he laughed, "I pulled him out of one of his few days off because I knew that he would like you. He needs more friends, don't'cha think?"

Cloud's face turned an unnatural shade of red as he slowly turned to face the General.

"S...sir?"

Sephiroth merely nodded stoically, confirming the truth of Zack's plot.

Cloud bowed deeply to the General, rising quickly after realizing his error, and saluted in the bow's place.

"General, sir... You didn't have to miss a day off to meet me... There's nothing special about me anyways..." Cloud said hastily.

"At ease..." he paused for a long while, looking between Zack's wide grin and Cloud's apologetic frown, "Perhaps Lieutenant Fair is correct in his assumption that I am in need of more friends."

Zack burst out in joyful laughter and said, "When am I not correct?"

"Most of the time..." mumbled Cloud underneath his breath.

"I think I am going to have to start excersizing my authority more often with you, Spiky-ass!" laughed Zack as he rolled over onto his stomach from the sheer hilarity of Sephiroth expressing his desire for companionship, and Cloud challenging a superior officer. It must have been opposite day, he thought whimsically.

After Zack's laughter had died away into a sleep-coma, and Sephiroth and Cloud had sat down round the fire, the conversation was destroyed almost as much as the bomb that Sephiroth had slain.

There were the occasional comments made about the fine night weather, but the gaps between which were long and caused Cloud to become rather nervous. During said moments of silence, Cloud would look out of the corner of his eye to examine the expression upon Sephiroth's face. He had left behind his demeanor of battle, and resumed his face of thoughtful stone, as if he were some work of sculpted art, forever frozen in contemplation.

Finally, the comments on the weather stopped, as Cloud could think of nothing to say any longer. Finally, the silence, which did not seem to bother the General, had become more than he could bear. Something had been on his mind ever since the bomb had been killed.

"Thank you...for..saving me... back there..." Cloud said quietly, not brave enough to make eye-contact, for he could feel his cheeks heating.

Sephiroth looked long and hard at Cloud, his brows knit in puzzlement.

"I did not save you. I merely completed the mission."

Cloud was glad that he did not see Sephiroth's face then, for he thought that he must have been glaring.

"Oh... Well... I wouldn't...be alive if you hadn't of showed up..."

Sephiroth nodded at the statement of fact, but still ceased to understand his meaning.

The fire had died out to a few sparkling embers that lit their faces eerily.

"I used you as a lure to defeat the monster," he explained.

"But... you still saved me. So... thank you..."

Clouds words came only with much effort, for he felt as if tears were going to come upon him. It was clearly detectable in his voice to the First Class SOLDIER that sat a few feet to his right.

"Pardon me. You are welcome," he said calmly, however his brow was creased with the silent self-critizism of his social ignorance. He certainly had not meant to make the cadet cry, "I meant no offense."

Cloud was still tearing, but his spirit was lifted. He still did not look at the General, regardless of how he was directing his gaze directly at him as the first few tears fell from his cheeks.

Sephiroth looked down to the Masamune, all covered in the soot from the battle.

He had saved Cloud, hadn't he?

He was so used to ordering SOLDIERs, men he knew, out to the front at Wutai, so used to the numbness he had trained himself to know when he slew Wutain warriors -- men who had families, things that Sephiroth would never know the joy of, that he had forgotten what it was like to save a life. He had saved few others, directly.

He looked up to Cloud once more, perplexed at what to do. He felt awkward watching a man cry. The only time that Sephiroth had cried was during the first few years of his life. But he was an infant then, and infants are irrational.

He looked down to Zack, snoring gently in his slumber, so peaceful and carefree. What would he do? He would know how to make Cloud stop crying.

With a slight bit of shame regarding sinking to Zack's level of childish foolishness, and a slight bit of concern for Cloud, he sighed, placed his hand upon Cloud's head, and began to pat him unevenly, slowly, and gently.

Cloud looked up to his superior, confused as he had ever been.

"Zack does this to make you happy, does he not?" asked the General as he looked away from Cloud, seeming slightly embarrassed by tone, but never by face.

Cloud could only make a few confused stutters and say, "Sir?"

"When Zack is under the impression that I feel sadness, he does this to me."

His face then morphed from that of embarrassment to that of a child struggling to understand his lesson in arithmetic, determined and unwilling to show misunderstanding.

Cloud, slowly, began to laugh. The General was being... _cute_. Like a child.

"This is comical?" he asked.

"No, sir. I'm just happy," Cloud said as he wiped the tears away from his eyes and smiled widely to the General to confirm his statement.

There was a silence again, and Cloud decided, with his newly elevated mood, that he was going to get to know Sephiroth a little better, even if it killed him.

"What else does Zack do to make you feel better?" he asked.

"'It's not your fault'."

"Sir?"

"He says 'it's not your fault'."

"I...don't understand, sir... I'm sorry..."

"I'm sure that he's told you, he asked me if he could. I don't care if you know about my past."

Cloud paused, open-mouthed, with a word in half-formation, before understanding hit him. Zack told Sephiroth that what the Shinra scientists did to him was not his fault. That it was not his fault that he was so lost in the world, and that the only thing that he could grasp was war and killing.

"But, sir... Why would it be your fault?" asked Cloud timidly, with his head tilted slightly to the side.

He cleared his throat and looked into the embers that were dying.

"It's not. I do not think it is."

Something about Sephiroth, not his voice, or his face, or his eyes, but something indescribable, said that he was lying.

Zack suddenly rolled over in his sleep, nearly landing in the embers, but Sephiroth jumped to his feet and planted a heel in the ground, blocking Zack from further rolling that would have resulted in several third-degree burns.

"You had best go to sleep. The road is just as long returning," he said quietly as he used the very same water materia that he had used to save Cloud's life to cast water1 and put out the hot embers.

"What about you?" asked Cloud as he laid back.

"I do not need sleep yet," Sephiroth replied as he removed his pauldrons in the darkness, and then his coat, laying it gently over Zack.

And then, with another flash of silver hair and sword in the moonlight, he disappeared into the canopy.

It did not take long for Cloud to fall asleep, for he was exhausted from the day's (and night's) stresses.


	2. Chapter 2

It was perfectly silent. He had even taken the clock off of the wall to enjoy the silence that the morning had to offer. He had eaten an apple that he had stored away in the mini-fridge of his apartment's kitchen for breakfast and had just sat down with a thick stack of paperwork -- reports from the Wutai frontier to be precise. And he was always precise.

There was nothing that required signing. It was the sort of paperwork that he found himself enjoying the most, for all that he had to do was summarize the reports in several letters that would be sent to Director Scarlet, the Director of Weapons Development at Shinra Electric Inc.

Something about Director Scarlet made him hate her. Perhaps it was her fake laugh that she obviously had constructed to charm him. Perhaps it was the fact that she was always wearing gowns that barely covered her chest and legs. Perhaps it was her entire existence. He never cared enough to determine the exact reason for his disliking of her. He simply cared enough to know that he disliked her.

A knock came upon the door, and he knew that he had settled into his mounds of paper too soon. Perhaps taking the clock off of the wall was a bad idea.

Even though the man on the other side of the door had keys to Sephiroth's apartment, he knocked to announce his arrival. Rather annoying. What did Sephiroth have to hide from one of Hojo's goons? They had observed and recorded every inch of his body, inside and out.

The man came in through the door after knocking, not waiting for Sephiroth to answer, of course. It was a different man than yesterday.

Routinely, Sephiroth followed the white lab-coated scientist to the infirmary, where his daily physical check-ups were held. He was to strip down, be examined, taken blood-cultures of, and then hooked up to a heart-monitor and run for a few hours on a tread-mill. Routine examinations lead to routine results. He remained healthy, and he remained the best known SOLDIER to live.

After the few hours of check-ups, he was allowed to return to his apartment on the fifty-nineth floor. One floor below President Shinra, himself.

Finally, he sat back down on the generic grey sofa that came with the apartment when he was first allowed it, and resumed the lovely paperwork that was laid upon the coffee table that faced a large window that showed the cityscape below.

He took a deep breath, listened to the silence for a short while, praised Director Lazard for the day off, and began reading.

As if it were too good to be true, the sounds of distant voices became audible from the hall outside of his apartment. One voice was worried, and the other cheerful.

Their sounds were muffled, but he could make out certain words.

After a while, the ruckus grew in volume, thus betraying that it was directly outside of Sephiroth's door. He thanked the heavens that _they_ did not have keys to his apartment.

Four knocks, and the cheerful voice was apparent to be the Lieutenant's.

"Rise and shine, Seph!" called Zack through the door, "Quit playing with that ass-load of hair you have and open the damn door!"

Sephiroth had no intentions of allowing the paperwork to go unfinished. He had already conceded to playing conspirators with Zack once before.

He did not get up from his sofa, but rather merely turned his head and pretended not to be home, carefully watching the door, should Zack decide to plow it down.

"We've come with a message from Director Lazard, sir," said Cloud's voice after a few moments of silence.

Upon the mention of Director Lazard, Sephiroth was on his feet and quickly to the door.

The door began to open slowly, but finished by slamming into the wall beside it, for Zack had flown in through the threshold before the door was even entirely opened. He made for the kitchen and began to dig through the mini-fridge.

Cloud awaited an invitation to come inside, politely. Sephiroth paused, wondering why Cloud did not enter. He had never had to invite anyone to come in, for the only people who had entered were Zack, who never waited, and the Shinra scientists, who had keys.

Cloud smiled patiently. Sephiroth raised a brow.

"Why are you standing there?" he asked.

Cloud looked confused and said, "I'm... waiting for you to invite me inside. Unless you just want me to tell you what Director Lazard said, and leave..."

Sephiroth then realized that it must have been one of those social norms that he had never known.

"Oh. Please, enter."

When he closed the door, Zack was already sitting on the floor of the main room, eating a banana.

"So... You've basically got nothing but healthy shit to eat," said the Lieutenant, "No wonder you're all tall and beefy."

Sephiroth sighed and placed his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose, applying pressure.

"I am not in any way similar to a cow," he then regarded Cloud, "What was it that Director Lazard wanted?"

Cloud opened his mouth, but Zack spoke before he could start.

"Mr. Lizard wants you to make good use of your day off and go to the Shinra cherry blossom party in Kalm," he said with a mouthful of the banana that he had stolen from Sephiroth's kitchen, "He said that it would be good for Shinra's image to out-of-Midgar clients. He told us to go find you, because apparently he came here to tell you himself, but you must have been doing your routine examinations."

"I wonder how he knew that we were your friends," added Cloud.

Zack gave him a grinning, side-long glance, "Mr. Lizard knows _everything_!" he whispered eerily.

"It's _Director Lazard_, Zack, and I will do as he has bade me. Are you to accompany me?"

Zack and Cloud made eye-contact.

"I told you that he would invite us, Private Porky!" beamed Zack as he stood up and placed the empty banana peel upon the top of Cloud's head, "And as your superior officer, I order you to leave that on there until I say you can take it off."

Cloud sighed sadly and did as he was commanded.

The helicopter ride into Kalm was treacherous. Zack either fidgeted, teased the ever-teasable Cloud, or attempted to give Sephiroth the third degree about his hair. Cloud apologized for Zack's behavior more times than any of them could count, and Sephiroth merely answered Zack's questions honestly, and looked out the window.

"How come your hair's so long?" asked Zack, his millionth question.

Sephiroth looked to Cloud, who's cheeks were bright red and who was mouthing "I'm sorry" and motioning slightly to Zack. Sephiroth nodded gently, trying to subtly ease the blonde's angst.

"Because I do not feel the need to cut it."

"Yeah, you would look super weird with short hair. Kind of like a chocobo with no feathers... except you wouldn't be bald. So... I guess it wouldn't really be like a chocobo with no feathers, after all."

Sephiroth looked back out the window. At that moment, Zack was content to breath onto the glass of the window nearest him, and draw dirty images in the resulting condensation.

"So, sir, have you ever been to a cherry blossom party?" asked Cloud slowly and timidly.

Sephiroth shook his head absently, not looking away from the window.

"It's a spring-time event that originated in Wutai. Every spring, the cherry blossoms grow, and the wealthier people have parties so that people can go admire the blossoms. I've never been to one before either," he explained.

"I've never been one for aesthetic pleasure," responded Sephiroth as he began to pull his gloves tighter over his hands as he felt the helicopter slowing to land.

"What do you mean? I've seen you peaking at my ass plenty of times!" Zack said in his usual humor, "And I would call my ass aesthetic."

"You don't even know what aesthetic means," muttered Cloud.

The blades audibly stopped spinning and it was apparent that they had landed. The door slid open and a cadet clad in his helmet and uniform opened the door, saluting the three as they hopped out of the helicopter.

They had landed in the yard of a large mansion. The mansion's exterior had a victorian appearance, and was painted a hue of red. The yard was behemoth, and filled with cherry blossom trees, who's boughs were clad in pink and white petals that freely fell into the cool spring-time breeze and carried a small ways before settling on the ground among many, many others. Cloud laughed with delight at the sight, and Zack chuckled at the look upon Cloud's face, throwing an arm around his shoulder.

"General Sephiroth, sir, when you are ready to return, please call the Shinra department of transportation via PHS," said the cadet.

Sephiroth began towards the mansion, leaving the cadet, and not waiting for Cloud and Zack to finish in their laughter.

When Cloud and Zack caught up with the General, he was at the main entrance to the mansion. He knocked three times and waited. Cloud and Zack were chattering about the blossoms when the door was answered.

"Oh, Sephiroth! I wasn't expecting you," said the curvaceous woman who opened the door. She had blond hair all pulled up into a loose sort of bun on the back of her head, generally reddish makeup, and a dress of crimson that was strapless and exposed her cleavage and left leg up to about six inches below her hip. She wore stiletto heels that were a matching color, and a coy grin, "I hope there's nothing wrong. I was just hosting my annual cherry blossom party."

Sephiroth silently scolded himself for not inquiring who was hosting the party.

"Hello, Director Scarlet. Nothing is wrong. I was sent here by Director Lazard, as it is my day off, and he desired it to be a diplomatic notion towards the peoples of Kalm," Sephiroth said, the annoyance at Scarlet audible in his voice, but, as he was trained to do, not in his face. His face remained a book in another language -- unreadable.

"And who are these two young men?" she asked, seeming slightly disapproving that there were more on her doorstep than just Sephiroth. He had always hated her strange sort of attraction to him.

"Second Class SOLDIER, Lieutenant Zack Fair," he lifted a hand to motion to Zack who was drooling at the sight of the scantily clad Director, "And Shinra Militant, Private Cloud Strife. They are --"

"Friends of his! And... I would just like to say that I would love to become friends with you, Director. _Good_ friends," interrupted Zack as he came forward and kissed Scarlet's hand, and winked at her, attempting charm.

Scarlet pulled her hand away and cleared her throat, seemingly trying her hardest to be polite before Sephiroth.

"Well..." she paused, looking between the awkward blonde, the boy who was giving her a lusty look, and the General, "A friend of the General is a friend of mine, I suppose. Please, come in. Lunch has just been served."

With that, she opened the door wide, and held out her arm in a welcoming motion.

Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud entered briskly, their attire far from the norm of the party. There were several ladies and gentlemen all wearing formal attire, tuxedos and dresses. There was a collective hush that fell upon the room as the crowds caught sight of the three warriors.

Sephiroth, clad in his black leather and steel pauldrons, Cloud clad in his rough leather gloves, and high scarf, and Zack clad in his black combat boots and iron pauldrons. The looked as if they had come for a battle, but received the wrong directions.

Scarlet took a glass of champagne from a tray that a waiter was carrying around and tapped it a few times with a knife, gathering the attention of everyone in the massive main room.

"Esteemed attendees, I have an announcement. We have been graced with the unexpected presence of General Sephiroth of Shinra's elite warrior faction, SOLDIER," she paused for a while to allow the guests to all applaud and whisper amongst themselves in pleased surprise, "We also have the pleasure of welcoming Lieutenant Zack Fair, of the same prestigious faction, and Private Cloud Strife of the Shinra Military."

There was another round of applause and soon there were clusters of people surrounding the three, all asking questions about their work.

"General Sephiroth, what's it like to be the pride and joy of Shinra Incorporated?"

"It is an honor to be considered such a valuable asset to the organization."

"Lieutenant Fair, have you ever been to the front at Wutai? What's it like?"

"Once before, yeah. It was freakin' awesome! There were all of these little guys running around with machine guns, but they were easy, you know? You'd be surprised how much a sword can kick a gun's ass."

"Private Strife, do you think you could get the General's attention for me?"

Cloud smiled bittersweetly.

"Sure," he directed his attention to Sephiroth who was already speaking to another person about the front at Wutai, so he turned his attention back to the person who had asked the favor of him, "I'm sorry but he's busy..."

The interviews went on for about an hour, and after that, the crowd had settled in with the new arrivals, accepting them as just a few more party guests, thus dispersing and resuming their pleasantries with other guests and indulging in the fine food that was laid about the room on long tables.

Sephiroth had no appetite. Zack, however, never lost his.

Cloud simply stood beside Sephiroth, watching Zack fill a plate with too much of everything that was offered on the table nearest them.

"You handled that honorably."

Cloud looked up to the tall General, smiling at the complement.

"Thank you. I figure I'll have my turn for fame some day. Until then, there's no use in being sad," he replied.

The sides of Sephiroth's mouth twitched into a sort of smile for a moment, but returned to the smooth line that his mouth usually was as quickly as it had happened. Cloud grinned widely, laughing softly in delight. He had made the General smile, even if it was a strange sort of smile, and only for a moment.

Zack ran up with a plate stacked with food.

"I can't eat this standing, it'll fall over," he laughed, "Why don't we go sit down."

They found a small table outside, upon the porch of the mansion, that was unoccupied. Zack, before he had even sat down, had eaten half of the food that he had collected, proving his previous statement false, and continued to eat after sitting. Cloud sat down across from Zack, and Sephiroth remained standing, arms crossed over his chest as he looked out to the cherry blossoms.

"I thought you said that you weren't one for aesthetics, sir," said Cloud, his arm over the back of his chair as he twisted to face Sephiroth.

"He isn't," said a female voice from the doorway of the mansion.

"Hullo, ther, Shcarlet," said Zack with his mouth full, apparently still trying to make advances on her.

She ignored Zack and moved fluidly, her hips swaying as she walked, to Sephiroth.

"May I have a word with you, General?" she asked, batting her lashes.

Sephiroth had never been one to refuse one of his superiors. He nodded and followed her into the mansion.

She led him up the grand stair-case in the main room, up into a wide hallway. She stopped beside a small table and a chair set against the wall, the chair facing outwards.

The hallway was extravagant, to put it lightly. The walls were a painted golden hue, the floors were mahogany, and the rug that stretched all the way down the hall was a deep violet-red color, lined in golden tassels. Upon the walls were paintings of the countryside in Kalm in the autumn, the reds and golds and browns all blending well with the overall color-scheme of the hall.

Sephiroth was nearest the wall when Scarlet faced him.

"So, General..." she began.

Sephiroth leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest once more, looking down at her from underneath downward eyebrows. He disliked that she had taken him somewhere private, away from the party.

"I'm sure you've seen the way I look at you," she smiled her coy smile again, the fingers of her left hand playing at her collarbone, an attempted hint at her cleavage, "It's such a relief to finally be able to meet with you outside of the workplace."

Sephiroth straightened, no longer leaning against the wall, and his arms at his sides. He allowed his features to clearly show his disapproval at what Scarlet was implying.

"Always so big and defensive," she said with a small laugh, "You know I'm not afraid of you."

"Director, fraternizing in such a manner as you are implying is against the SOLDIER code of conduct."

She placed a warm finger to his lips, then trailed it down to his chest where it lingered.

"Hush. Silly boy."

"I will not be spoken to as if I am a child. Excuse me," Sephiroth's tone was harsh, filled with his hatred for her.

She placed a hand against the wall on one side of him, and her foot upon the seat of the chair to his right, her left leg bent at the knee, entirely exposed due to the slit in the skirt of her dress. He was denied his ability to leave, unless he resorted to physical harm, which he would never think of with a Shinra Director.

"What are you going to do, Sephiroth? Hit me?" she asked, removing her hand from the wall, "Be a good boy, now."

She grasped one of his hands and placed it upon her exposed thigh, close to her hip. He inhaled deeply, almost hissing, at the contact, and pulled his hand away.

She giggled.

"Come, come, now. Are you going to defy one of your superiors?"

She leaned upwards, moving her lips close to his, but he cocked his chin upwards and to the right, away from her. His height was also an advantage.

"And what if I decide to stop the funding of the SOLDIER weaponry? I could focus on improving the canon at Junon... or perhaps focus on the Shinra Military's weapons?"

"If you stopped funding SOLDIER, thousands of men would die in Wutai."

"Men that _you_ sent there, no?" she whispered as she moved her lips close to his ear and ran her tongue over the lobe.

That time, he did not move. He would not be responsible for the deaths of his comrades. He would not be responsible for the war being lost. Not even if it meant allowing Scarlet to indulge in her lusty gluttony at his own expense. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, his jaw setting, and his face depicting no emotion or thought.

She placed his hand once again on her naked thigh, and grinned, for he did not pull away. His face was still directed away from her own, for he could not find the will to direct it willingly to her.

"There's a good boy. Just let me play with you for a while..." she whispered to him, then moving down from his ear and biting and kissing his neck.

She placed her hands upon his chest, feeling the tensity his pectoral muscles, which made her tremble.

After a few moments of his lack of participation, Scarlet seemed restless. She began to move one of her hands on a downward path from his chest.

"General, sir -- " a voice began from the stairway.

Scarlet quickly looked to stairs, eyes locking with Cloud's, who stood upon the last step.

" -- Oh! I'm....I'm sorry, sir... I didn't know you and Director Scarlet were... I'm sorry for interrupting..."

His face was pink, and his eyes had a look of terror in them.

Sephiroth breathed inward deeply, bracing himself for what was to come. He did not open his eyes, or move his head. Surely Cloud would inform Zack, who would inform the entire rest of the company. Then he would never see the end of the media, and, through such publications, be trapped with Scarlet. She would never tell, however, for she was a woman who took pleasures in many people. Sephiroth had just seemed to be the unattainable desire that she always had had.

Scarlet placed her foot back on the floor and moved a few feet away from Sephiroth, fanning herself with her hand.

"I should get back to my guests. I've had my fill for now... See you next time, General," she said as she reached out and trailed a hand down from Sephiroth's cheek to his chest before walking gracefully to the stairs, and taking them down into the main room.

Sephiroth's head finally moved back to a comfortable, forward-facing position, and his body, tense from the displeasure of the preceding events, relaxed. He finally exhaled.

"I'm sorry, sir... I'm sorry if I..." Cloud couldn't think of words for a long while, "...I didn't know that you... and the Director..."

Sephiroth's eyes were still closed as he spoke.

"I hate her. Please, tell no one of what you saw."

Cloud's face changed from terror to concern as Sephiroth sat down in the chair that Scarlet had placed her foot upon.

Cloud came before Sephiroth and sat on his knees, looking up at him, for his face was downward-cast as he held it in his hands while his elbows were against his knees.

"Are you all right, sir?"

"I'll be fine."

Cloud leaned forward, trying to see Sephiroth's face better.

"What happened...? If you...hate her, then..."

"It's nothing. Just forget what you saw."

"She...?"

Sephiroth finally opened his eyes and began to massage his temples with the first two fingers on either of his hands.

"Scarlet is the Director of Weapons Development. She owns SOLDIER almost as much as Lazard."

Cloud's brows pulled upwards in horror and worry. He understood.

Sephiroth put his hands over his ears, his fingers weaving with his silver hair. He did not want to hear the distant down-stairs laughter, or Cloud's accusations of sexual bribery to acquire better weapons for SOLDIER.

His face was angry, and yet Cloud could sense the sadness hidden within it.

Cloud sat up and wrapped his arms around Sephiroth's neck in a sympathetic embrace. His chin rested gently upon the space between Sephiroth's neck and pauldron.

For a long while, neither one of them moved. The warmth of Cloud's blushing cheek could be felt against Sephiroth's neck, where Scarlet had just been.

"Why are you attempting a romantic advance on me?"

"I'm not...I'm just hugging you," replied Cloud, "...I want you to feel better."

"Oh. I apologize for my social ignorance."

Cloud tightened his hold on the General, and in a tone that was somehow related to his apology, and yet somehow on an entirely larger scale, he said, "It's not your fault."

Sephiroth was silent for a while, his hands still over his ears, but no longer pressed. Apparently, more than one person was around to tell him that, now. It felt strangely comforting. Slowly, he removed one hand from his head and placed it upon Cloud's shoulder blade, and allowed his head to rest against Cloud's shoulder.

It was strangely pleasing, the thought that it was not his own flaws, but the flaws put upon him by those who created him. The thought that Cloud, though, was concerned for him, put him in a strange sense of being humbled. He thought of Zack as well, but Cloud seemed different. Zack seemed too hidden within his humor most of the time, and only directed concern when he had gone too far, or when someone else had. Cloud genuinely cared about him. He wondered why.

"Thank you for the gesture," he said at long last.

Cloud released the embrace and got to his feet and smiled widely, his blushing cheeks worsening due to the fact that Sephiroth had returned the embrace, if only slightly.

"The blossom viewing has started. I thought you would want to come..."

Sephiroth stood, and looked to Cloud, his mouth twitching into his strange sort of smile and then returning to sternness once more.

With a nod, Sephiroth began down the stairs, Cloud at his side, who was smiling like a child on Christmas Eve.

Zack was standing on the porch, arguing with a waiter on whether or not his food was finished when Sephiroth and Cloud returned.

"Sir, there is no more food left on this plate!"

"Is too! Look there. See? There's a smudge of sauce I still have to lick off!"

"Sir, licking plates is hardly party behavior."

"Then you higher-ups don't know how to party!"

Finally, Zack let the waiter have the plate and belched loudly before turning to his friends.

"Oi! There you guys are. What did Scarlet want?"

Sephiroth lied smoothly, as if it might as well have been the truth after all, "To speak about the advances in the weapons development that she had directed towards SOLDIER."

Zack began to jab Sephiroth in the ribs with his elbow, "Sure, sure... But what _really_ happened? I bet she was all over you, you stud-muffin!" he said, ending in a laugh.

"I can assure you, there was no fraternizing of that sort."

Zack closed one eye and drew close to the General.

"Good. Cause I'm gonna' get her for myself someday," he said, jabbing both Sephiroth and Cloud in the ribs before leaping off of the porch and motioning for them to follow, "Now lets go view the shit out'a those trees!"

The breeze had not let up since they had arrived, the petals still falling and being blown about in the wind. Walking about the large yard, one could see gentlemen picking petals from their lady's hair and collars and making them giggle with the romance of the gesture.

Zack had hopped upon Cloud's back, picked off the banana peel that still lay upon his head, and demanded a piggy-back-ride, which he received from the poor cadet.

Cloud and Zack admired the blossoms, laughing as they fell upon their cheeks. Sephiroth followed after them absently, his mind in other places.

While walking, or in Cloud's case, hauling, throughout the yard, Zack overheard a large circle of guests talking about the war.

"It's been going on forever, now. I don't think that it will ever end."

"And if it does, who says we'll be the ones to win?"

"Shinra says."

"How do we know that Shinra will be able to back their claims?"

Zack hopped off of Cloud's back, tossed the banana peel and approached the circle of guests, his face challenging, rather than offended.

"I can't blame you for wondering if Shinra's really as powerful as they say they are. No one really knows for sure, do they?" he paused for dramatic effect, "I guess it's just because no one has ever gone up against a Shinra elite SOLDIER warrior and lived. I would love to demonstrate, if you don't believe me. I'm sure Seph, here, would be more than inclined to beat me up for you."

One brave man in the center of the ring regarded Zack with one raised brow.

"Alright, then. Lets see what you've got."

Zack's grin went evil, and he looked to Cloud, commanding him to find a couple of sturdy sticks, as they were not permitted weapons when they had left for the party.

A few moments later, Cloud returned with two sticks, each being about four feet in length.

Sephiroth and Zack chose their sticks and came to stand about ten feet from each other, Cloud in the middle.

"Ready..." Cloud raised his arm in the air, then dropped it, "Go!"

Like a flash of lightning, they were off. They could only be seen in the small gaps where their sticks clashed, the force that they applied obviously being controlled, for the sticks had not broken yet.

Sephiroth charged Zack, moving slow enough to be detected by the unaltered human eye, causing Zack to swing at him, falling for his trap. When Zack was in mid-swing, Sephiroth leapt up into one of the cherry blossom trees, and then pushed off of it, causing the tree to bend from the force, and then recoil after Sephiroth had left it.

He was plummeting towards Zack, who just finished the swing he had previously made against the General. Sephiroth swung just as he passed him, but Zack threw himself to the ground to dodge the blow, then rolled to his feet and charged.

Sephiroth landed on his feet, pivoted, and charged Zack as well. It seemed that they had forgotten that they were not wielding swords of steel, but rather swords of wood, for they appeared to be intending on a full-effort strike.

Sephiroth took advantage of his large height, for when Zack made a high swing for his neck, he bowed low and struck the back of Zack's knees with his boot, causing him to fall to the ground. Then, with a force that shattered the stick into and uncountable amount of tiny shards, Sephiroth swung downward upon Zack's scalp, the sound of which made a deafening snapping sound.

Zack dropped his stick and looked up to the General.

"Ow. That hurt, you meanie," he said, completely unfazed by the blow.

Sephiroth then resumed an upright posture, and held out a hand to help Zack up, which Zack gladly took.

The surrounding audience was stunned, and silent. Their eyes were wide and their mouths were ajar.

A singular applauding set of hands could be heard drawing near from the mansion. It was Scarlet, smiling generously.

"Thank you for showing us the ability of SOLDIER, General Sephiroth and Lieutenant Fair," she redirected her attention to the audience, "Thus is the power of the Shinra elite warrior faction SOLDIER. I do hope that you all will find yourselves more inclined to donate towards the war. We're willing to compensate for all donations, should the war be lost, ten-fold."

Sephiroth glowered at her with the eyes of death itself. She threatened him one moment, and then used him to get the very money that she had threatened to deduct from SOLDIER. If she were not a Shinra Director, he would have done his very best to destroy her solely with words. He was against killing when it was not ordered of him, even if it was Scarlet.

Cloud looked between Scarlet's batting lashes, and Sephiroth's terrifying glare a few times, as it was obvious as they were making eye-contact.

"Sir, would you like to return to headquarters?" Cloud asked, hoping that it would help ease the General's nerves.

Sephiroth looked to Cloud and nodded before clearing his throat to call attention to the general populace of the party.

"I regret to inform you that it will be time for Lieutenant Fair, Private Strife, and myself to leave shortly. It was a honor to associate with such esteemed donors to Shinra Electric Incorporated as yourselves," he announced, obviously lying about the last part, for he looked directly at Scarlet while he said it.

There was a long round of applause, first for Scarlet, then for Sephiroth.

The helicopter took about half an hour to arrive.

When they returned to headquarters, they went directly to Sephiroth's apartment, as it was just about time for dinner, and the cafeteria was serving something disgusting again.

Cloud prepared a sort of cooked vegetable dish for the three of them, as there was no meat in Sephiroth's refrigerator, and served his comrades at the coffee table.

Zack, mouth full of steamed broccoli, asked Sephiroth, "Sho... Do'ya have thah day off again tumorrow?"

"I do not know."

"Next time you have a day off, we should do something fun," chimed in Cloud.

"My paperwork needs doing."

"So does Scarlet, but you don't hear me bitching and moaning about it," said Zack.

Sephiroth and Cloud were silent.

"Perhaps she does," said Cloud after a while.

"Perhaps then she would stop wearing dresses that do not fit," added Sephiroth, his first attempt at humor since the three had become an official trio.

Cloud looked to the General and gave him a bittersweet smile.

"You handled that honorably," he quoted.

Sephiroth understood the underlying meaning of the statement, but Zack looked between the two and gave Cloud a one-eyed stare.


	3. Chapter 3

Cloud had pinched his face into a "Zaaaack! Get down!" sort of face. Zack loved it, and Cloud could tell because he laughed loudly and said, "You're so cute when you want me to stop humiliating you."

Zack had leapt up onto the table at which they were eating their lunch in the cafeteria, just in front of Cloud, and was doing a sort of strip tease, shimmying off his gloves and moving his hips around in a suggestive manner. With his feet, he moved around people's lunches, getting them involved in the performance.

All of the men sitting at the long lunch table began laughing and tossing individual coins of gil at him, encouraging his stripping.

Cloud merely placed his fork back into the potatoes that he had considered eating, and put his face into his hands, pretending not to know the Lieutenant.

That is, until Zack called out to Cloud.

"I refuse to do any more until my _lovely_ assistant comes up here!" he said, offering a hand down to Cloud, who's eyes went wide with embarrassment.

He quickly rose, turned, and walked out of the room as fast as he could possibly travel without running. He left his tray still full of food upon the table.

Cloud's stomach growled ferociously, actually sounding like a growl more than an empty digestive tract.

He was on his daily patrols in Sector 6, the slums, and had no gil on him with which purchase food from one of the shabby-looking carry-out restaurants. He was not prepared to ask the other Shinra cadets that were assigned that shift to allow him to borrow money, either.

There were two other cadets, both wearing helmets, which Cloud rarely wore, so he could not make out their faces from behind the visors.

They made scant conversation, for none of them seemed to be previously acquainted. However, as time went by, and they came to sit down on a bench on the side of the filthy road, one of the cadets asked another about the recruitment test.

"So, I was just recruited, and the entry test was pretty easy, huh?"

"Me too. It was cake."

Cloud looked down to his feet and stood, feeling immediately shamed to have not ascended into SOLDIER. Two in three cadets graduated into SOLDIER, apparently. He was the one that hadn't, seeing as how his usual comrades were not there.

"What about you, Strife?" asked the first cadet.

"I don't really remember. It was a year ago..." he said quietly.

The two nameless privates looked at each other and shared a silence filled with awkwardness. No one wanted to mention the entry exam for SOLDIER.

The other two stood and suggested that they keep moving. Cloud merely followed after them, his feet dragging slightly in his woeful shame.

The two seemed to be conversing through whispers as he fell behind slightly. He knew what they were talking about.

He wondered to himself, what if he was given a second chance right now? Would he be able to defeat Cissnei, without worrying about disappointing his mentor, now that he knew him personally? Probably not. He did get the General to hug him, though. He smiled at the thought of the kind gesture and the warmth of the General's hand on his back.

"What're you smiling about?" asked one of the two other cadets, his head over his shoulder as he looked back to Cloud.

Zack had training all week. No missions. Again. It was like Shinra was hanging him out to dry. And Zack had always had a deep, underlying fear of clotheslines.

He was to report to the 49th floor, to instructor Sergeant Matthews, and attend a few hours of class with some other Lieutenants, some of which he was even acquainted with. It did not matter who he knew, or who he did not know, however, because his charisma had a way of seducing people into friendship rather quickly.

The class was dull, full of running around in a simulation, in one of the training rooms, of some city in Wutai that was swarming with troops. They cleared the city square in the first few hours, and then secured it, taking the time to receive evaluations of their strategies and skills used.

Most of the men were told to watch their backs, because the Sergeant wouldn't be there to cover them in the real world.

"You have too much fun. Focus on what you're doing," he told Zack, who, after the Sergeant had turned his back, stuck out his tongue and made a thrust with his pelvis, silently mocking his superior.

The line of SOLDIERs held back laughter, and the Sergeant then resumed the simulation.

There were snipers in the windows of several of the buildings that surrounded the square, but the bullets that were shot from their rifles were not nearly as harmful as the ones that ricocheted off of the SOLDIERs' blades as they blocked the shots and scaled the buildings, quickly destroying any snipers.

A wave of artillery was next, the SOLDIERs having to take cover in buildings and in alleyways.

Then, it was the heavy machinery.

Large robotic creatures emerged from the dark places of the simulation, firing what seemed unending rounds of bullets towards the nearest Shinra SOLDIER they could find. They were taken out through a lure-and-destroy tactic, where one SOLDIER would play target for the machine, while one destroyed it from behind.

Zack was exhausted when he was finally finished securing the city with the five other SOLDIERs that attended the class. The Sergeant dismissed them with a wave of his hand, and Zack was done for the day until 1800 hours, when he would have to take an individual simulation chosen by whatever training room tech was in the windowed room.

He figured he would drop by his good friend, the General, and mooch off of his supply of free food, and maybe even go out galavanting for a while, while he waited.

Zack did not bother to shower, for he did not think to until he was already on the elevator to the 59th floor. Oh well. Sephiroth had smelled worse at one point in his life, he was sure. It would be an interesting experience, however, to see if he could inspire any sort of reaction in the Lord Stoic, himself.

Finally, he found himself at the door to Sephiroth's apartment, having walked passed several meeting-rooms filled with executives all looking at him strangely.

"Open up, honey-buns! I've got on a new cologne I want you to smell!" he called through the door, of course forsaking knocking.

There was a long pause from the other side of the door, and finally Sephiroth's voice answered. He was no doubt looking through the peep-hole.

"You should knock. I could have mistaken you for Scarlet," he said, still not opening the door.

Zack grinned and made his hands into an oval shape using his fingers.

"Was that a joke, I just heard, Mr. Grumpy-pants? And besides, knocking is for squares. And I'm an ellipse."

The door finally opened, and the scent of steam and soap filled Zack's lungs.

Sephiroth had a towel around his waist and nothing more, his hair dripping and still, miraculously retaining it's shape in the front.

Zack ran into the apartment, crashing on the sofa and sprawling out across it.

"I am on my way to my office, as I will be on shift in a few minutes."

Zack moaned and wriggled around on the sofa, making it's springs squeak.

From the sofa, if one were to twist round, one would have a perfect view of the bedroom, should the door be left open, which it was.

Zack silently looked over the back of the sofa and into Sephiroth's bedroom as he entered and began putting on his clothes. Zack caught a good glimpse of him and giggled quietly to himself.

"So... why you all wet and naked?" Zack paused to laugh dumbly at the misconception that could have been taken from that.

"Bathing is usually what one does after returning from vigorous activity."

Zack rolled over and looked out the window.

"Are you calling me smelly?" he accused, sitting upright, completely unable to sit still.

"No. I have just returned from training."

Zack laughed with glee at the similarities in their circumstances.

"What did they have you do?"

"Seek and destroy a Wutain behemoth, level 99."

Zack made a "pfft" sound and looked over the back of the sofa again, attempting to see if Sephiroth was finished dressing or not.

"I wonder why they never define strength over that level. Like there isn't a number higher than 99," he paused in clarity, "Seph! The Shinra-level-dudes can't count to 100! I bet you I can..."

Zack began counting, getting to seven before Sephiroth emerged with his usual attire on, his hair damp, but not dripping as it was before. His towel was now folded neatly in his hand, his other, holding a paper folder underneath his arm.

"Are you to accompany me, or do you wish to remain here?" he asked as he made his way to the entrance and placed the folded towel outside of the door, where the cleaning crew would pick it up later.

Zack leapt to his feet and skipped after Sephiroth as he did not wait for an answer, and began to make his way to his office, which was curiously located two floors below.

"Of course I'm coming! What else would I do for the next, like, million hours until more training!" he replied with an implied "duh".

Sephiroth silently regretted asking. Paperwork was never a simple task, and when Zack was involved, it was even worse. He was sure to make every effort to divert Sephiroth from his duty -- and today, it was an important one. He had letters and weapon inventory reports from Wutai and then he was required to issue orders.

Zack slyly snuck up behind Sephiroth, as they had previously been walking single-file, and grabbed the bottom two corners of the skirt of his coat and began whipping them up and down as if they were reigns to a chocobo.

"Seph, if you were a chocobo, you would be a black one," he stated, his voice obviously laced with the holding back of laughter.

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder, glaring at Zack's idiocy.

"Why?"

Zack let out a few laughs accidentally, and said, "Because you come fast!" bursting out into loud laughter upon finishing, resulting in many a strange look from the corporate men and women walking about the halls as well.

Sephiroth sighed and confirmed to himself that paperwork would be extremely hard to finish today, indeed.

Zack finished laughing, gasping for breath and then felt the need to roll around in his joke after making it, like a dog marking it's territory.

"Get it? Cause the black ones go fast! And because you go everywhere fast! And... And..." he paused to look around, and then whispered, "I just felt like making it dirty, too."

Sephiroth neglected to make any sort of eye-contact with the insane Second Class behind him. Zack assumed it was to avoid encouragement of his behavior.

They stepped into the elevator with three other people. They all looked out of the corners of their eyes at Zack before greeting Sephiroth politely. One of which people was Tseng, who happened to ignore Zack as he played with the skirt of Sephiroth's coat.

"Good evening, General. I hope your day has been going well," said Tseng, clad in a black suit and tie. Sephiroth had approved of him mildly ever since they met. He enjoyed his orderly nature, but the fact that he was a Turk, the leader of the Turks at that, set him slightly on edge.

"Thank you. It has been satisfactory," he replied without returning the question.

Zack finally dropped Sephiroth's coat and regarded Tseng.

"How come you have a dot on your forehead?" he asked innocently, appearing to genuinely mean the question.

Tseng touched a finger to the small, circular mark upon his forehead and smiled faintly.

"It is a bindi. In Wutai, we believe that there are many orbs of energy in one's body called chakras. Where the bindi is marked is the sixth chakra, which is said to be the seat of wisdom. It is also said that a bindi helps retain concentration and energy," Tseng answered plainly.

Zack's eyes widened at the concept and looked up to Sephiroth.

"When we get to your office, will you draw one on me?" he asked.

Sephiroth put his face in the palm of his hand and silently shook his head as the elevator doors opened and he stepped out.

Zack followed after like a duckling after it's mother.

When they arrived at Sephiroth's office, Zack almost hissed at the shock of how clean and organized it was. The shock never died away, regardless of how he had been there many, many times.

It smelled like fresh paper, and the shades on the only window were drawn.

The room was not necessarily large, nor small. Within it was a wooden, leather-bound desk, a leather chair set behind it, a standing shelf packed with military manuals, a standing electric lamp, two chairs set to face the desk, and a love-seat set against the wall.

The walls were a beige-gray compromise, and the carpet, of course, white.

The way that the room was organized, and the objects within it, betrayed him to be a man of high status. However, nothing looked remarkably expensive.

Zack plopped down on the love-seat and Sephiroth dutifully took a seat at his desk, taking out a ball-point pen from the drawer and the first paper from the folder.

Zack whined loudly and rested his head against the arm rest.

"Are you _actually_ going to work?" he moaned, "Oh. Wait, look who I'm talking to."

Sephiroth ignored him, his eyes moving back and forth as they went from line to line of text.

Zack crossed his arms and pretended to pout for a while, slowly reaching a more serious demeanor.

He silently watched Sephiroth read the paper, and then begin to scrawl something upon a separate sheet of paper, apparently taking notes. Always working so hard. Zack's heart broke for him.

He would have reached out and tried to help, but he didn't have the clearance needed to assist with matters so important.

Line after line, Zack could see his friend's eyes move back and forth between papers. He almost was mad at Shinra for what they did to him. But then again, who would he have turned out to be if he was raised outside of the corporation? Probably an executive at the very same company.

Zack, with a tone so very different from the one that he used for his jokes and silliness, said softly to Sephiroth, "You know... If things would have been different, you would probably still be here, huh?"

He laughed sadly at the irony of it, and Sephiroth did not even seem to have heard him. Zack knew he did, though.

"So what about Cloud, then?" he asked, changing the subject to something almost similar to that of a gossiping schoolgirl.

Sephiroth's pen stopped for a moment and he cradled his forehead in his hand, his elbow upon the table-top.

"You do not specify the information you desire," he said before resuming his pen-pushing.

"You like him?"

"Yes."

"How come?"

Sephiroth hesitated.

"I... don't know."

Zack glared at him suspiciously.

"You know everything."

"I do not know why are you inquiring about such things while I am on shift."

Sephiroth appeared to be in a bad mood. He always was when he had to make Wutai-decisions. The poor General.

"Because I just want to know," he paused, sitting up and regarding his friend with a serious countenance, "Really. No jokes, and I'm not trying to mess with you."

"I enjoy his consideration, among other things," conceded Sephiroth, his tone calm and void of any meaning other than what he had stated.

"Good," Zack smiled faintly, "He likes you a lot."

Sephiroth stopped writing and looked as if he struggled to make himself start again.

"Seph?"

"And what if I am forced to send your platoon to Wutai?" he asked quietly, the same voice.

Zack laughed lightly, "Then we would kick ass, and come back to bug you some more."

Sephiroth breathed deeply and resumed.

"You worry too much... What else do you like about Cloud?"

Zack was trying hard to make the situation easier for Sephiroth, but he knew that either way, the decisions had to be made.

"He repays his debts," answered Sephiroth, his mind briefly returning to the hallway with Scarlet. Cloud had been the one responsible for the end of it. Sephiroth considered that equal to how he had saved Cloud from the bomb in the forest during their first mission together.

Zack scratched his head, "And?" he pressed.

"His head smells pleasant."

Zack cocked his head in surprise and laughed for a moment before asking how Sephiroth would know this.

"He embraced me."

"What? When?"

"During the period of time that he had come to retrieve me for the blossom viewing at Scarlet's party."

Zack smiled, happy that Sephiroth had finally experienced a hug.

"And?"

"You often use sentence fragments. Your grammar is horrible."

Zack moaned.

"Seriously!"

"It was fine. Merely another variation of physical contact. I did not understand the significance," he lied.

Zack closed one eye and smiled widely, "You inbred moogle. You're lying. You liked it, didn't you?"

Sephiroth situated his hand that cradled his forehead so that his eyes were hidden.

"It was a pleasant gesture."

Zack got to his feet and made his way to Sephiroth's side.

"Stand up," he said.

Sephiroth began to protest, but decided to allow Zack his games so that he wouldn't pester him about it later.

Just as Sephiroth stood to his full posture, Zack threw his arms around his torso and embraced him tightly.

Sephiroth stood with his arms held slightly outwards for a moment, not entirely understanding what was happening.

When Zack pulled back, he stood on his toes to closely examine Sephiroth's face.

"You look confused. I thought you liked getting hugs... damn, I guess I was wrong," he said, sitting down in a chair on the other side of Sephiroth's desk and looking defeated.

Sephiroth was still thoroughly confused, and his features clearly displayed it.

Zack made eye-contact with him and raised an eye-brow.

"That was a hug," he clarified.

Sephiroth's features changed with understanding and he sat back down and resumed his work.

"Don't just keep scribbling! I'm all mixed up now! Just tell me straight," Zack commanded, sounding almost comically irritated.

"The experience regarding Cloud was different. It seemed... more circumstantially appropriate."

The patrol was nearly at an end, and Cloud could nearly hear Zack's voice already teasing him and making profane jokes. And yet strangely, he was still excited to return to the headquarters.

The other two cadets were still walking in front of him when they hopped on the train that would take them to the surface of the plate above sector 6.

The train-ride was dull. None of them said a word, and the car they rode in was empty. The only sound for about ten minutes was the sound the train-car made against the track.

Occasional comments were made after getting off of the train between the other two, but Cloud remained silent and hungry.

On the surface of the plate, the sky could be seen, high up, and so very far away. A layer of thick, polluted, smog hung over the city of Midgar, however, mingling with the taller buildings, and dimming the dusky sunlight above. It must have been just about 1700 hours.

Each building, regardless of how they were out of the slums, seemed to be marked in some way with graffiti, and the streets were busy with the bustle of rush-hour traffic. While the three Shinra Privates walked towards their headquarters, people on the sidewalk made a path for them. The stares were mixed between fear, hatred, envy, and admiration. Cloud supposed that he would be afraid of three men on a sidewalk carrying machine guns and swords on their backs as well if he were one of them.

One of the new recruits looked back and smiled.

"Hey. I know a shortcut. Come on," he said, taking a turn into an alley way.

The space was dark, as the sun was starting to set, and the shadows of the tall buildings around them were cast over the alleys.

Cloud pulled the high scarf-like collar of his uniform up over his nose, for he could smell the trash in the several dumpsters that lined the walls of either building to his left and right.

There was a rattling in one of which dumpsters but the three dismissed it, after a brief pause of further listening, as a stray animal.

Cloud, however, had a strange feeling about the sound. It was too loud for a stray cat or dog.

"Are you sure that was just a -- "

He was cut short as something hard collided with him from behind. Cloud's breath was knocked out of him. When he hit the hard pavement, his mind had still not wrapped around what was happening. His head hit the ground, chin first.

The other two cadets whirled round at the sound of the collision, and began shouting at the perpetrator. Although, the perpetrator was less than concerned with what profanities came out of their mouths, and more concerned with the young man beneath him.

Cloud rolled over to face the man, but before his eyes could come into focus on him, he was struck hard in the jaw. And then again in the eye. And then throughout his abdomen. Blows rained down upon the surprised Shinra cadet, several hitting before the other two cadets pulled the man away.

When they finally separated him from Cloud, he wrenched his way out of their grasp and ran, shouting "Die, Shinra dogs!"

He disappeared before Cloud ever got a look at his face.

"Strife! Are you okay?" the two came clambering back to him, hauling him upright.

Cloud's vision was blurry in one eye, and the pain in his other eye was so severe that he dared not open it. Fiery pain was exploding throughout his body. He could feel blood trickle down from his chin and brow, where the skin had split. He opened his mouth, but fell instead. His chin hit the ground first again, but the pain of the collective blows and falls sent him into a state of unconsciousness.

Zack half-jogged out of the training room. He was still hyped up from the experience of a seek-and-destroy mission simulation and from the idea that the day's work had been finished.

He made his way bouncingly to the elevator door, pressed the button, and waited. When the doors opened, he saw a familiar face, but his reaction was far from greeting.

"What the fuck!?" he exclaimed in reaction to the beaten and bloody Cloud that had each arm slung over a Shinra cadet, "What happened?!"

The two cadets hurried out of the elevator and did their best to salut their superior while still carrying Cloud.

"He was attacked by a rebel, sir!"

Zack reached out to touch Cloud's face, his fingers gently making contact with the blackened tissue of his eye.

"We were just taking him to the infirmary, sir!"

Zack took a double-take at them and took Cloud up into his arms, carrying him with ease.

"Hell no you're not!" replied Zack harshly as he ran off towards the door to the stairwell.

Now, running up five flights of stairs would not be an easy task, generally. But the adrenaline that Zack's body produced in reaction to his injured, unconscious friend, mixed with the mako that was in his system, drove him ever upwards with speed unparalleled. There was no thought involved in his decision on where to take him. It was just instinct.

When he burst into the fifty-nineth floor, executive types all jumped with surprise at the door opening, but then resumed their daily tasks upon seeing that it was the insane Second Class that often visited Sephiroth.

Zack sprinted to Sephiroth's apartment door, and began shouting, "Seph! Open up! Cloud's hurt!"

The door swung open much faster than it usually would have, and Sephiroth stood before him.

"What?"

He then looked down to the unconscious blonde in Zack's arms. Zack had tears streaming down his cheeks, though he looked angry as well.

Sephiroth took Cloud up into his own arms, and strode him quickly into his bedroom, placing him gently on his bed, Zack following behind.

Zack rubbed his wet eyes and got down on his knees beside Cloud.

"I'm sorry... I wish I could have been there..." he whispered.

Sephiroth looked angrily down to Zack and said, "Crying solves nothing."

Zack ignored him and continued to apologize, while Sephiroth left the room, returning shortly after with a bowl of warm water and a rag.

"Clean him."

With that, Sephiroth left the room, this time not returning for a long while.

There was a loud sound of impact, and Zack knew that Sephiroth had broken something. It was not easy to anger the General, but when it occurred, something had to break. The last time Zack could remember seeing the General in a fit of rage, a Wutain soldier had his spine snapped in half.

Zack could make out little profanities from wherever Sephiroth was in the apartment. Things like, "God damn it!"

Then the sounds stopped, and Zack got up to investigate.

Sephiroth was sitting upon his small sofa, head in his hands, looking at the ground.

"Seph..."

Sephiroth did not look up, but rather issued the very same command, "I said clean him."

Zack nodded sadly, wiped at his eyes and returned to Cloud.

When Cloud awoke, he could barely see the features of where he was. The pain he felt primarily in his eye and what he thought must have been one of his ribs was excruciating. The eye that had been hit wouldn't open.

The ceiling was white, and he could see a very dim white light coming from a source to his right, but he could not see it in his peripheral vision. He felt as if he were laying on something soft, and voices could be heard, although words not discerned.

Cloud reached up and touched his fingers to his eye, running them ever so gently over the swollen tissue. He moaned softly at the pain, that resulted from the arm movement, that radiated throughout his ribs. He placed his arm where it previously was, and took a deep breath, trying to make the excess pain subside. However, it continued to throb.

The voices went on. He could not decipher any sort of tone from them.

Slowly, he tried at moving his head, to see from where the light came. It was a window, on the other side of which was the city of Midgar, far below. The moonlight seeped into the room, creating the dim white light. There were no other lights on, and Cloud was thankful for that.

Quietly, Cloud heard a door being opened from behind him, and then things were silent. The voices stopped, and another light spilled across the ceiling, quickly fading when the door was closed.

Zack's head appeared before Cloud, causing him to jump. He got down on his knees, sitting between Cloud and the window.

"Hey... You're awake," he whispered.

Cloud made a small sound of confirmation and grimaced. The little lurch of surprise that Zack had caused resulted in severe discomfort.

"Here."

Zack gently elevated Cloud's head and slipped a pillow behind it, making it easier for Cloud to look at him and his surroundings.

"Where... am I..?" he breathed to Zack, his eyes elsewhere.

"Seph's apartment. The infirmary's a yucky place. Filled with sick people, you know?" smiled Zack, his eyes clearly revealing his concern for the injured blonde before him.

"Wh...what!? No! I don't want to..." he paused, attempted to rise, but fell back with a cry of pain, "Please, Zack... I don't want to be an inconvenience to the General..."

Zack chuckled sadly.

"Who do you think cleaned up your face?"

Cloud could feel his cheeks heating.

"Oh."

Zack looked over his shoulder and in the open doorway stood Sephiroth, his arms crossed over his chest. He was looking at Cloud, his brows knit in thought.

Cloud's cheeks were an inferno, yet he dared not thank the General.

Zack looked between the two and began to dab at Cloud's chin with a wet rag that he apparently had brought in.

Cloud grimaced at the contact with his scraped and bruised chin, and looked to Zack with begging eyes.

"I'm fine, Lieutenant... Really..." he tried once more to rise, but to no avail.

Another cry of pain, and he fell back against what he had discovered to be a bed. Sephiroth's bed. He bit his lip to prevent further cries.

Sephiroth took a step forward, when the second cry was issued, his arms coming to his sides. That feature aside from his face, or his eyes, or his voice, that indescribable feature, said that he was worried. He said nothing.

Zack continued to dab, this time at Cloud's brow that had appeared to stop bleeding.

"How...did I...get here...?" Cloud murmured after accepting his defeat.

"I was walking back from the training room and I saw a couple of grunts -- err... I mean cadets -- carrying you to the infirmary. They said you had been attacked by a rebel," he paused for a while, "I told them that I would take care of you, and then I took you here."

"The penalty for assaulting a Shinra officer is death," whispered Sephiroth grimly.

There was a collective silence in the room, then.

Zack smiled widely, a mask over his worry.

"You know, Spiky, we could hunt him down for ya. Give him a good beat down in the least," he jested, laughing slightly as he went.

Sephiroth cocked his head at this idea.

"And how would we acquire information about the rebel's whereabouts?" he asked.

"I was only joking, but if you want to -- "

Cloud intervened, "Please... No."

Sephiroth looked slightly downtrodden at this, and moved closer to the bed, sitting down on the edge and drawing the blanket over Cloud. Their eyes met, and Cloud wished that Zack could have been dabbing his cheeks with the cold water, for they surely were the color of roses.

"Do you desire a substance that I would be able to attain?" he asked.

Cloud shook his head dumbly.

Zack chuckled gently under his breath at how adorable he thought Sephiroth and Cloud were.

"Sooo....." his usual humor returned with a wide grin, mischievous and almost sinister, "You hugged Seph, here, huh? I didn't know you rowed that boat, Cloud! If I'da known sooner, I would have had the chance to get into your pants!"

Cloud moaned and moved his head so that it no longer faced Zack.

Sephiroth raked his fingers through his scalp and said soberly, "The information was forced from me."

Cloud nodded, regardless of how he no longer faced Sephiroth.

"It's okay..." he said, turning back.

Sephiroth was looking out the window, however, when Cloud looked back up to him.

"He's seems to have gotten the wrong impression of the event, regardless of how I explained the preceding ordeal involving Scarlet," he said distantly.

For the next few hours, Zack popped open a few bottles of rum that he had smuggled into the building, never seeming to become entirely intoxicated. He had the tolerance of an old man with a bad liver.

Sephiroth merely occupied himself with pasting Band-Aids onto Cloud's face and standing in front of the bedroom window with his arms crossed over his chest.

The night seemed to progress ever on, sleep not befalling the poor, injured Cloud, in spite of his heavy lids and tired mind.

"General...?" he asked sheepishly.

Sephiroth was standing at the window, eating a red apple. He turned, and said nothing, but regarded Cloud with one questioningly raised brow.

"Do you like it...when people call you 'General'? Or would you rather be called... 'Sephiroth'?" Cloud inquired, his mind becoming slightly warped by his exhaustion.

The tall male standing silhouetted before the window seemed to take a moment to ponder.

"It depends on who is addressing me."

"What about... Zack and I?"

Sephiroth turned to face the window once more, took another bite of his apple, and took a moment to chew and swallow the bite.

"You two may call me whatever you desire."

Cloud smiled and turned his head away from the shadow of a man.

In the other room, he could hear Zack coming closer, for he had left to go throw away an empty bottle of rum. He appeared to have finally become drunk.

"Heeeyyy...." he whispered, climbing into bed with Cloud and obviously passing out due to alcohol consumption.

Cloud blushed at how close Zack had laid to him, but dared not move. Rather, he rested his head against Zack's shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Good night, Zack."

Zack was silent, leaving the room in a void of soundlessness and darkness.

"Seph...Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder to the young man in his bed.

"Can I ask you something.... personal..?"

He nodded slowly, replying, "I have nothing to hide," before directing his attention to the night sky once more.

"What... is the very first thing you remember...?"

He was quiet.

"..I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked..." Cloud amended, silently scolding himself for asking offensive questions. How could he be so stupid?

"No. The first thing I recall is needles. I could not put an approximation on the number. I assume they were filled with mako," his tone was almost robotic. Empty and given much thought.

"...Were you ever....lonely...?" asked Cloud quietly.

"I did not understand the concept of it."

Cloud wanted to get up. He wanted to go to him and face him.

"What about... now?" he asked, swallowing his desire to rise.

Sephiroth made a small chuckling sound, bittersweet.

"My spare time is consumed by Zack..." he paused, trailing off, "and you as well, Strife."

"Please, sir... will you...call me Cloud?"

Sephiroth appeared to nod, "My apologies."

"If... it would help at all, sir... If I could..I would hug you right now."

Sephiroth stiffened and nodded again before leaving the room. He returned shortly after with a small, glowing green orb in the palm of his hand.

He removed a blue orb of materia from his armor, and replaced it with the green.

"Cure 3."

Cloud was then engulfed in an ethereal green light, and the pain from his wounds was lifted. He immediately sat up and faced Sephiroth, who then held out the glowing green materia.

"A gift," said Sephiroth softly.

Cloud's cheeks became so red then, that he could have illuminated the room.

"S..sir... you don't have to give me..." he stammered, his hands splaying out before him.

"In case you are to become injured once more. Please," he paused, the strange twitch of a smile coming to his face for half a second, "Cloud."

Cloud said nothing, but, smiling, took the materia and slipped it into the pocket of his uniform's pants.

Cloud, sensing a disturbance on Zack's behalf, for he was stirring gently, laid back down, allowing the sleeping Lieutenant throw his arm over his chest. Cloud _oompf_-ed quietly with the impact, and then nervously patted Zack's arm. Zack merely put his head on Cloud's shoulder, the tips of his spiked black hair tickling at Cloud's cheek. Cloud had fallen victim to a drunken cuddler. A vigorous, sleeping, drunk cuddler.

In his sleep, Zack nuzzled Cloud's shoulder and slurred soft words under his breath. It would have been cute if Cloud was not worried that the General would be offended by such behavior in _his_ bed.

Sephiroth moved over to a shadowed corner of the room, and withdrew a chair that must have been sitting against the wall, pulling it over so that he could sit by the bedside.

"What is family like?" asked Sephiroth, his voice almost business like. His face was determined, seemingly to understand the concepts that made him so socially incompetent.

Cloud looked up to his mentor with sad eyes. He sympathized with the General's solitude, though he would never truly know it.

"It's nice... When you have a rough time... there's always someone there to cheer you up... To tell you they love you..." answered Cloud blushingly.

"Then, if one were to disregard genetic relations, one would be safe in saying that yourself and Zack are..." he paused for a moment, his brows stern in his attempts at understanding, "my family?"

Cloud felt a soft, comforting warmth within himself at that.

"Y...yeah..." he whispered back.

Sephiroth slouched in his chair and, elbow upon the arm-rest, rested his chin upon his fist. He had the appearance of a tortured, thoughtful soul, silhouetted against the moonlight as he was.

"Then this is what... it is like," he said to himself so quietly that Cloud could barely hear him.

Cloud smiled and whispered, "We're here for you... to cheer you up..." brief silence, "To tell you that... it isn't your fault. And that you do have family..."

Sephiroth chuckled softly under his breath, and what little light managed to touch his face betrayed that he was smiling.

"Go to sleep, Cloud," he said, his voice reading contentedness.

Cloud still smiled widely as he closed his eyes and slightly returned the drunken cuddle that Zack gave him. Sleep came then, on white wings.


	4. Chapter 4

When Cloud consciously accepted that he was, indeed, awake, he also came to realize that there was something rather heavy upon his chest. He was quick to assume that it was Zack, for he had faint memories of the night before, and Zack's drunken cuddling. However, as he ventured forth to open one eye and step into the next stage of awareness, he felt that there were two points on his body where heavy things rested. He did not look down to investigate, but rather, in his sleepy stupor, guessed at what the other thing was. There was something upon his chest, and upon his lower-stomach.

He was absolutely perplexed, and yet still too stupefied by the distant aches of healed wounds and sleep that refused to leave his drooping lids.

Finally, he took a deep breath that quickly morphed into a yawn and looked downwards. Upon his chest was a head of spiked black hair, and, because of the way that Zack's head was situated upon his chest, he could not see over the many outstretching tendrils of raven hair. Cloud lifted a finger to poke at Zack's head softly, rousing the lazy reaction of simply rolling over and wiggling his bottom to get comfortable.

As Zack rolled over, mumbling something in his sleep, it was revealed that a face framed in a silver mass rested upon Cloud's lower stomach. The General!

The chair beside the bed that Sephiroth had been sitting in the previous night was empty, and instead, he was on his knees directly before the bed, his arms to his left, and his head resting on Cloud's lower abdomen. It appeared that he had fallen asleep, causing him to tumble from his chair and land on top of Cloud.

Sephiroth's face was serene -- more than any of the calmest expressions that Cloud had ever seen upon his waking countenance. He looked truly peaceful.

He breathed through slightly parted lips, not making a sound.

Cloud was frozen in his place. He could not look away, and yet he could not will himself to continue to look at the serenity of the General. He was fixed in a state of displeasure, for he could not look away from something that he felt he had no right to see, and yet enjoyed seeing altogether.

His face was the color of fresh, summer strawberries. Slowly, he reached out, as if his fingertips had a will of their own, and touched Sephiroth's cheek ever so softly. His skin was warm and smooth.

Suddenly, eyes like emerald fire shot open and a powerful hand flew up and grasped Cloud's wrist. His iron grip nearly broke Cloud's carpal bone before his hold on reality was reestablished. He quickly released the blonde's wrist and his face read the most unmasked expression that Cloud had ever witnessed.

Sephiroth's eyes were slightly widened, and his brows turned upwards, and his mouth was slightly open. Quickly, he rose to shift his weight onto his knees that still were on the ground, and looked down to Cloud, who previously laid beneath him. With a shake of his head, Sephiroth's expression then resumed he usual stoic nature, and yet his cheeks seemed to change to a hue of pink, barely detectable.

"It would seem that I fell asleep. My apologies. I have not slept for approximately 12 days," he amended before rising and quickly leaving the room.

Cloud laid still, frozen upon Sephiroth's bed, looking at the doorframe from which the General had exited. The color upon Sephiroth's cheeks set some strange feeling within him abloom. And he could not help but to smile.

Zack rolled over again, mumbling, "Cloud... You so have a crush."

Cloud jumped slightly in surprise, looking down to Zack with wide eyes, only to discover that he was still asleep. He sighed in relief.

When Zack awoke, he was alone in a strange bed. It smelled like Cloud, though. He rolled over several times, trying to fall back asleep, finally groaning loudly and opening his eyes.

"It's not time to come out yet, Mr. Sun!" he moaned at the window, pulling a pillow over his head.

The pillow smelled like Cloud, causing Zack to smile and burry his nose into it. Ever since he had met Cloud, he had always thought that he smelled good. He smelled like warmth.

Zack looked briefly to the digital clock sitting on a white nightstand by the bed, discovering that it was 1000 hours.

"Oh. I guess it is time to come out. Sorry, Mr. Sun," he muttered with an apologetic smile that he directed to the window as he forced himself to get out of bed. He had to begin training in three hours.

Light bathed the room evanescently with the natural light that the planet received, rather than the synthetic light taken from it, for not a bulb in the room was flicked on. It gave the morning a fresh feeling, and seemed to compliment the cool air in the room.

When Zack had gotten to his feet, he stretched and performed one-hundred squats, a morning routine common in Shinra warriors. And, while in the process of squatting, he remembered that he passed out drunk last night in Sephiroth's bed. He pondered on why he was there in the first place.

After finishing, he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his face in his hands. Maybe he shouldn't have gotten drunk. He couldn't remember anything besides passing out and being in Sephiroth's apartment.

He scratched at the back of his neck and looked out the window, to the city below, still dark, regardless of the daylight. Figuratively and literally.

Suddenly, as his eyes ran over little people below, barely the size of insects, he could see images of Cloud's bleeding face, and bruised body. Zack shot to his feet, exclaiming, "Cloud!" with terrified clarity.

That's why the bed smelled like Cloud. He passed out on him last night, while he was laying in Sephiroth's bed.

The events of the previous night exploded before his mind's eye, and the sights of Sephiroth's enraged expression became prominent. He could remember crying and cleaning Cloud's wounds.

He quickly turned to the bed, half expecting to see Cloud still there. He was gone.

Zack ran to the bedroom door and flung it open, looking to the left and to the right frantically, calling out Cloud's name.

"I'm here, sir," came Cloud's modest voice.

He was sitting on the sofa, tying his boots.

Zack moved with the most speed that he could muster, closing the small distance of only a few meters faster than Cloud could detect.

Before Cloud had blinked, Zack was on his knees in front of him, his hands moving all over his face in an inspection.

"Are you okay? Are you sure that you should be up? Where are all of your cuts?"

Cloud laughed uncomfortably and put a hand on Zack's shoulder.

"The General gave me a maxed restore materia. I'm fine, now, sir," he said sweetly.

"Oh... good," Zack paused and turned his head and looked at Cloud through the corner of his eye, "And where is Sephiroth?"

Upon the mention of Sephiroth's name, Cloud's face was red again. He quickly looked back down to his boots and resumed fastening them.

"I-I don't know... Someone in a white coat came and got him about two hours ago... I said that we would leave, and apologized for spending the night, but... he told me that I could stay here..." said Cloud quickly, obviously trying to hide how wide his eyes were and how red his face was.

Zack quickly forgot about worry and his ever-reoccuring grin, rank with evil, wove its way into his face.

"And why is Private Porky all blushy? Did he do something... _unmanly_?" he demanded.

"I... I don't know what you mean."

Cloud switched from his boots to his pauldrons, securing them to his shoulders.

"I think you do, Spiky. Ssssspiiiiiiiiiikyyyyyy... come onnnn..." Zack sat down beside Cloud and slung and arm about his shoulders, obstructing his fussing over his pauldrons.

Cloud put his hands on his knees and locked his elbows, looking quickly to the floor.

"Tell me or else I'll make you do a striptease for the boys back in the barracks!"

Cloud made a small sound of defeat and looked to Zack, his eyes begging.

"Please, sir! It's not my business to tell! The General would -- "

"The General!"

Cloud whimpered at the accidental betrayal and put his head against his knees.

"Please, sir!"

"You two did the freaky-sneaky, didn't you!?"

Cloud made another small whimper and shook his head.

"He just fell asleep on me..."

Zack looked at Cloud then with one raised eyebrow. How disappointing.

"That's it? Jesus, Cloud. You need to get more action. You're acting like you got F-ed in the A."

Cloud shot upright and looked to Zack, surprise mixed with embarrassment.

"I would never! -- With the General?!"

Zack grinned widely and retorted, "You like him."

Cloud had nothing to say in return, but rather looked downwards, making his eyes hidden from Zack's view.

Zack breathed out at length and took on a serious countenance. He cupped Cloud's chin between his first finger and his thumb and pulled his face up, forcing eye contact. Cloud's brows were pulled up sadly, and his cheeks were pink. Zack smiled lightly at how cute he was.

Zack drew near to Cloud, not letting go of his chin. He could smell him. He put his mouth close Cloud's ear and said, "You love him."

Cloud gasped and tried to pull his chin away from Zack's steel grip, and yet, somehow, Zack was able to hold him without adding any additional force.

"That's not...possible..."

Cloud could feel his heart beating his in throat, as if it were trying to emerge from his chest altogether. He felt so strange when he thought of such a possibility. Of course he couldn't love the General. He was untouchable. He was Sephiroth, The Demon of Wutai, The Silver Elite, First Class SOLDIER. The General was from a world entirely separate from Cloud's own, a world that only seemed to cross over when Cloud found himself in his presence. It was as if Sephiroth lived in a mental image, rather than a physical one to Cloud. And yet, Cloud wanted the physical entity all the more. Perhaps Sephiroth had gone from mentor, to something more. Something that _did_ exist in Cloud's own world.

In the silence that ensued, Zack did not move. Cloud remained as if struck by a mighty blow for several minutes before finally allowing his shoulders to relax and allowing his head to rest in Zack's grip.

"What do I do?" he asked, his eyes falling to Zack's shoulder, where his forehead rested as Zack slowly released his hold on his chin, "He's...the General."

Zack pushed Cloud away gently, holding onto his shoulders and smiling broadly. Cloud's face read utter depression.

"Invite him out to dinner!" he proclaimed, returning to his cheery demeanor, "That's usually what a guy does when he's got the hots for someone!"

"I haven't got any money... I mean... not enough for anything that the General..." Cloud slumped, trailing off and looking even more downtrodden.

Zack laughed and mussed Cloud's hair. He then stood and put his fists on his hips, assuming a heroic pose.

"Then we'll make dinner for him ourselves! I'll buy the stuff -- we can go to a grocery store in the slums after our shifts. Cheap food, you know."

Cloud looked up with sudden, visible, hope.

"Really? You would do that for me?" asked Cloud, rising and clasping his hands before him with excitement.

Zack nodded and replied, "Duh. It's what friends _do_. And we are friends, aren't we, Spike?"

Cloud, during his shift of afternoon city patrol, was forced to chase after a thief, apprehend him, and arrest him. It was far from pleasant, but he prided himself in being able to accomplish the task. It was the first brave thing that he had done in the name of Shinra Electric Incorporated.

During the long walks preceeding the arrest, Cloud found himself worrying, once again. He seemed to find himself worrying a lot lately.

Thoughts concerning Sephiroth's taste in food were at the top of his list, as well as whether or not he should wear something other than his uniform -- if he still owned any clothes that were not Shinra standard issue -- and what to say to him. He had only ever taken someone out to dinner once before, and it was Tifa, a girl from his hometown, when they were six years old. It was a sort-of date, he supposed, and ended with a modest kiss on the cheek when he walked Tifa back to her porch.

At the end of the date, Tifa had said, "When can we do this again?"

To which Cloud replied, "We're supposed to do it more than once?"

Tifa had reacted rather badly, slamming the the door, and refusing to talk to him for three days. After that, however, she didn't ask for any more dates. Cloud never really noticed until thinking about it that day, and, as a result, came to the anxious conclusion that he was a horrible courtier.

He hoped to Gaia that things would turn out better later that night, and that he would not find himself blushing as much as he thought that he would. Which happened to be much too much.

Coincidentally, the closest prison was not far from the headquarters, and Cloud's shift was almost complete. The other two cadets that were on shift with him were the same as the day before. He had found their names to be Biggs and Wedge.

"Nice work, Cloud. You gave us a bit of a scare yesterday. How'd you heal up so fast?" asked Wedge.

"Turns out I had a cure materia in my armor," responded Cloud, scratching the back of his neck nervously as he half-lied.

"Whoa. I guess we should start checking our materia before patrols," put forth Biggs, wide-eyed.

When the three returned to the headquarters, Zack was waiting outside of the main entrance. When Biggs, Wedge, and Cloud came into view, the embarrassing result was that Zack began flailing his arms about and shouting.

"Ew. What're you doing with _them_?" asked Zack accusingly as he glared at Biggs and Wedge, pulling Cloud underneath his arm.

The two cadets shrunk back. It was apparent that Zack thought them responsible for Cloud's injuries.

Cloud sent an embarrassed, apologetic look to Biggs and Wedge, as he replied, "They're my new partners for city patrol."

Zack looked them up and down and stuck out his tongue before hauling Cloud off by the head to the bottom of the stairs that lead to the main entrance to the HQ.

"Come on! I've got training at 1900 hours! We've got to hurry!" Zack said cheerfully as he released Cloud's head.

"Where are we going?" asked Cloud, as he had to run every few steps to keep up with Zack.

"Sector 7. I've got just about 800 gil in my pocket, but don't get too excited. You're paying me back!" he replied, grinning on the final note.

Cloud slumped a little. 800 gil would take him weeks to earn.

When the two got onto the train, there were several other people in their car. Apparently returning home from work, for the nearest clock betrayed that it was thirty minutes past 1700 hours.

The men and women returning to their under-the-plate homes looked at the SOLDIER and the cadet out of the corners of their eyes, even daring to whisper quietly amongst themselves. Not a word was said that was over the volume of a soft whisper on the car, not even by Zack. For even he was discomforted by their air of rebellion among the inhabitants of slums.

The two exited the train when it pulled into the Sector 7 station, Zack stretched and made a sound of refreshment.

"Nothin like the smell of under-the-plate smog in the evening! Smells like minimum wage and bank reposession orders!" he said loudly, getting back at those who were whispering about him on the train before pulling Cloud onto the nearest sidewalk and continuing their journey.

Cloud looked over his shoulder to the station as they strode swiftly away from it, and said softly to Zack, "That was kind of mean..."

"I know. But they were doing the same thing to us. Just... quieter."

The grocery store was the nicest building on the block, which was surprising because it was coated in graffiti and the plaster was visibly chipping on the outiside.

When Zack and Cloud entered through the automatic doors, a little bell rang and a Wutain man from behind the front counter peeked over his newspaper and glared. Since the war, it seemed that Wutains that lived outside of Wutai were getting the short end of the sick, based solely on their ethnic background.

The man raised his newspaper and said grumpily, "Don't look if you won't buy."

Zack was quick to run to the sweets isle. He jumped back and forth between different sugar-filled foods, saying things like, "Lookit!" and, "Aww, Cloud! Can we get some?"

Cloud did his best to ignore the childlike SOLDIER as he chittered over candies, and went to the produce section. Zack, after looking over his shoulder to beg Cloud for candies, soon followed after, realizing that Cloud was no longer behind him.

"Umm... Zack...? What kind of food does the General like?" asked Cloud awkwardly.

Zack laughed and clapped a hand to the back of Cloud's neck.

"Healthy shit. It's so nasty!"

Cloud curled his fingers around his chin and looked about the fresh-looking vegetables.

"Oh!" Zack added, "And he doesn't eat meat."

Cloud, eyes wide and with one eyebrow raised, looked over his shoulder to meet eyes with Zack. He was astonished.

"What? But he's so..." Cloud couldn't bring himself to describe Sephiroth's physical fitness, "How could he be so...?"

Zack shrugged, looking equally dumbfounded, and replied, "I don't know how he's so big and beefy if he doesn't eat meat! He just is!"

The two silently agreed that it was just one more of the many mysteries that surrounded the man, and let it be as such, for mysteries surrounding Sephiroth were no odd occurance.

"Now..." Zack slung his arm over Cloud's shoulders, bringing his face close to the blonde's, "About that sugary shit..."

_May 2nd, 3012. General Sephiroth, First Class SOLDIER, representing the Shinra 43rd through 57th platoons stationed on the central eastern coast of the theater of war, Wutai._

_Inventory:_

_- Projectile Weapons (500)_

_- Close-Combat Weapons (560 [40 in bad condition])_

_- Badages and the like (100 meters)_

_ -Disinfectants (500 gallons)_

_- Ammunition (45,000 bullets per weapon)_

_[Further details listed in attached documents. See page seven.]_

_SOLDIER personnel present in stated theater of war (120 out of total personnel in Wutai [5000]):_

_- Hewley, Angeal, First Class_

_- Rhapsodos, Genesis, First Class_

_- Matthers, _

Sephiroth paused in his writing to look up to the ticking clock on the wall. Precisely four more seconds until his shift was finished. He wondered how much more he could have written if he hadn't have wasted time looking to the clock.

As soon as the thin, red lines of the digital numbers read 1900 hours, he began to collect his papers in the cremey-yellow-colored folder that he usually did, and set out the door of his office and into the halls of the Shinra headquarters.

While on his way to the elevator, the safe-haven on his hallway-commute back to his apartment, a most unpleasant sound came echoing from behind him.

"General!"

It was a feminine voice with a tone that meant, "Wait up."

However, Sephiroth was entirely satisfied acting as if he had never heard the voice, and continued walking, if not slightly faster for the elevator. He did not understand the strange social games that females seemed to play -- not to say that he had anything against females in general. Only the ones that followed him in the hallway or on the street.

His expression remained as it was before, and the elevator drew ever closer.

"General, hold the door, for me?" asked the voice, getting nearer.

Most women wore heels while working at Shinra. It was a wonder that she had caught up, he thought.

As Sephiroth entered the elevator, the doors, that had begun to close as he approached, reopened and restarted their wait, allowing the woman enough time to get in after him. Sadly, he was forced to ride the elevator with the woman, and could no longer pretend to not be able to hear her.

The doors closed, allowing no further passengers to enter. He reached out to press the button with the little white number 59 upon it. It illuminated as per it's orders, and he was forced to finally regard the Shinra employee.

"Press my button, would you, dear?"

It was Director Scarlet of Shinra Weapons Development.

Her long, and yet revealing, crimson dress hugged her body like a second skin, the only slack given around the knee-area, where it was not entirely needed to display her hour-glass figure. The fingers of her right hand were playing at her collarbone, hinting at her cleave, as was her apparent habit.

Sephiroth hesitated, his brows drawing downwards in displeasure, and looked away from her, focusing on the glass walls of the elevator that showed the elite city of Midgar below.

"I do not know your number, Director," he replied coldly.

To say that Sephiroth's tolerance for the woman was at zero due their last encounter would be an understatement. Self control, however, was bred into him. Sephiroth's ability to think before he acted, to control every emotion, every word, and every movement that he created, was impeccable. Of course, he saw no speciality in it, but the Shinra scientists, the very ones who came to his door daily, did.

Scarlet reached out and took his hand in her own, and pressed the number 56 with his index finger. Sephiroth promptly pulled away, the motion driven by mako, and thus, too fast for unaltered eyesight to detect. Scarlet jumped slightly with the surprise of it, and then laughed.

"You almost scared me. Almost," she paused to run her tongue over her upper lip and take a few steps, maneuvering her way so that she was behind Sephiroth, "And how are those reports coming? I do hope that the SOLDIERs out in Wutai have enough... ammunition. Perhaps their weaponry is running a little low?"

Sephiroth was silent, and, of course, not allowing how distraught he was with the situation in Wutai, to show on his icy face.

"I'll take that as a yes," Scarlet laughed softly, running her fingers over Sephiroth's back ,"Poor SOLDIERs... Who's going to send them more when they run out? Oh. That would be me, wouldn't it? Oh well. There is only five-thousand of them, isn't there?"

Sephiroth whirled round and grasped Scarlet's hand roughly. He was being extremely gentle, but only by SOLDIER standards.

"Director Scarlet, I realize what you want from me. It is against the SOLDIER code of conduct to fraternize in such a manner with a superior. Furthermore, I will no longer tolerate attempts at blackmail. As a Shinra Director, it is your responsibility to maintain maximum efficiency in your field. Creating a deficit for SOLDIER during times of war is not only treason against Shinra, but is also a violation of your terms of employment and will result in the deaths of five-thousand men," Sephiroth's eyes, much as he hated them to, locked onto Scarlet's, and from his eyes came a horrid look of hatred.

Scarlet used her unrestrained hand to trace the curves of his jaw, smiling mockingly back at him.

"Just try accusing a superior of such a crime. I'll burn your reports, and say that I was never informed of a deficiency in ammunition and weaponry. You can't beat me, silly boy."

Sephiroth froze. She was entirely correct. Scarlet could easily turn the situation around and paint the picture that he had committed the crime. At that moment, he was hopeless to release her hand and step out of the now opening elevator doors.

"I'll be seeing you soon, General!" she called after him tauntingly.

Sephiroth only walked on, his stride much faster than his norm.

When Sephiroth slid the card-key through the slot, he could already smell something like cooked food coming from his apartment. It was an unusual smell for him, for he rarely cooked his food, for the human body is known to absorb up to twenty percent more nutrients from raw foods, namely vegetables.

There was a quiet click, and his door opened slowly. It was dim inside, but not dark, as it should have been.

He carefully stepped inside, knowing that Zack was somewhere to be found.

"Breaking and entering is a crime, Lieutenant," he said, as he began a trek to his bedroom, sliding off his gloves and disconnecting the buckles across his chest that held his pauldrons in place.

However, Zack was not present in the apartment.

Cloud waited nervously aside a small, round table that Zack had insisted on stealing from a cafe, table-cloth, chairs, and all. How Zack had managed to steal an entire table and two chairs was a mystery that Cloud was not prepared to solve.

On top of the table were to plates, two cloth napkins, and a two sets of silver. Upon either plate was a combination of tortellini with tomato sauce and spiced eggplant. He had gotten the eggplant recipe from the old Wutain man who ran the cash-register in the grocery store.

Each plate was steaming and beside each plate was a glass of red wine that Zack had insisted upon, regardless of the no-alcohol regulation.

When Sephiroth finally entered the main room of the apartment, his gloves and pauldrons were off and being held easily in one hand, while the other hand worked on taking off his coat, which was already half-way off, exposing his chest and abdomen.

Cloud stood awkwardly beside the table, in full uniform, as he had come to find that he did not own any casual attire any longer.

Sephiroth looked up at Cloud, his face irate.

"Cloud...?" He seemed surprised to see the cadet all alone in his apartment, "Where is Zack?"

Cloud blushed, much to his chagrin, and replied quietly, "He isn't here..."

Sephiroth looked away and nodded, placing his pauldrons and gloves upon the kitchen counter and shrugging back into his coat. Cloud felt a lump in his throat as he noticed that the General's upper body was exposed.

After sliding his arm back into his sleeve, Sephiroth allowed the coat to remain open, and came to stand before the table, examining the food and drink laid out upon it.

"What... is this?" he asked, dumbfounded at how someone would break into his home just to cook dinner.

Cloud was quick to look away shyly and scratch at the back of his neck.

"Oh... well... I just kind of... I don't know... I made you dinner... Because I..." Cloud cleared his throat and couldn't will himself to say anymore.

Sephiroth looked between the good-smelling food and the embarrassed Cloud and replied honestly, "Thank you."

Cloud laughed out loud briefly, partly at how red his cheeks were becoming, and partly at how happy he was that Sephiroth appreciated the gesture.

"Please," stuttered Cloud, holding out a hand towards a chair while pulling it out.

All Cloud really knew about dating was to hold out chairs and open doors for the lady. But would one do the same for a man?

Sephiroth nodded slightly and sat down where Cloud had motioned.

It was still rather strange to Sephiroth, the concept of breaking and entering, and then cooking -- but he was unexplainably pleased that it had been done.

Sephiroth placed his napkin upon his lap and sat with lovely posture, creating the appearance of a gentleman in a warrior's guise.

The two ate in silence, neither Cloud nor Sephiroth touching the wine that sat beside their plates patiently. It was entirely awkward for Cloud, though Sephiroth appeared to be not at all unsettled. It appeared that he was merely deep in thought.

When both men had finished the food set before them, Cloud finally mustered up the courage to speak.

"S-so... I hope you liked it... I mean... I'm not much of a cook..."

Sephiroth shook his head, "It was amply satisfactory."

Cloud made a mental note to pat himself on the back, and smiled widely, "Good!" a pause, "You... don't care for red wine?"

Sephiroth shook his head and removed the napkin from his lap, lightly dabbing at his mouth before standing to collect the dishes.

"It is against regulations to consume alcohol."

Cloud rushed up to assist Sephiroth in cleaning the dishes, blushing uncontrollably once more.

"Oh... I'm sorry, sir... it was Zack's idea... He said that it would be more romant--" Cloud stopped himself and pretended to cough. He just couldn't force himself to admit that the dinner was an attempt at romance.

"You did not drink any, either," stated Sephiroth, acknowledging that to most, the regulation was not that important and rarely enforced.

Cloud placed several dishes into the kitchen sink that Sephiroth had filled with hot, soapy water.

"I don't really care for alcohol. I like sweet things better..."

Sephiroth's face, gazing down into the suds as he scrubbed Cloud's plate, was quickly graced with his flicker of a smile. How childlike, he thought; how innocent.

The dishes were finished and laid on a drying rack set beside the sink in less than three minutes, and Sephiroth and Cloud were left to standing awkwardly in the kitchen, facing each other.

After a small wait, Sephiroth motioned to the main room once more, where the two sat down upon the cuboidal white sofa that faced the massive window.

Sephiroth's posture melted into a comfortable slump, and he appeared to be exhausted. His coat, unfastened, fell to his sides, resting in pools of leathery black that mixed with wisps of silver hair that rested upon the cushions. He laid one arm over the armrest, and the other across the back of the sofa, his knees apart, and his face resting in the palm that was connected to the arm upon the armrest.

He sighed terminally.

Cloud, concern outweighing his desire to impress, faced the silver-haired man, his brows reading worry.

"Is everything okay?"

Sephiroth nodded stoically.

"Sir... I can tell that you're the type to lie about this sort of thing."

"It is nothing. Merely fatigue as the result of excessive paperwork and lack of sleep."

Cloud leaned towards him, and persisted. He could tell, through that unspeakable feature of Sephiroth's that he could somehow read, that there was something more.

"There's more... isn't there, sir?"

Sephiroth looked up to Cloud, pulling his face slowly from the palm of his hand. His expression was grim and unwilling.

"Director Scarlet."

Cloud made a silent gasp and his worry increased.

"Wh-what happened?"

Sephiroth shook his head slowly and sighed once more.

Cloud suddenly felt hate for the woman. He could envision himself turning her in to President Shinra as the cheat that she was. He could also envision himself shouting profanities at her. How dare she do such horrible things to Sephiroth!

Suddenly, Cloud was blushing, his ears even turing a hue of red. He was becoming entirely annoyed with the number of times that he found himself changing color in front of the General.

Sephiroth looked at Cloud through the corner of his eye.

"What?"

Cloud straightened, "Sir?"

"Why are you blushing? Have I said something wrong?"

"What? No! Of course not, sir... I just... It just makes me so angry... that she treats you like that..."

Sephiroth hesitated, peering at Cloud through the corner of his eye, still. Cloud's round face, big blue eyes, and blushing cheeks seemed oddly appealing. Sephiroth assumed that one would call it cute, though he had never come upon an instance where he would express such an opinion, so he knew not if it would be the proper word to use.

"Oh?" he asked.

"Yeah... I mean... You don't deserve that sort of treatment... You deserve someone better than her. Someone that cares about you..." Cloud looked downwards, wondering why he had chosen such words.

Sephiroth smiled the smile that did not disappear immediately. The same smile from the night before.

"Someone like you?"

Cloud was stunned, and the will to move his tongue did not come. He said nothing, torn between a smile and surprise.

Sephiroth simply turned his gaze out to the window, seeming to wait for an answer patiently.

Cloud could not help but notice that the dim lighting in the room, also one of Zack's ideas, gave Sephiroth's silvery hair a dim sort of luster, the half-translucent color seeming to reflect little bits of orangey light. His broad jaw and narrow chin seemed accentuated in the absence of his pauldrons -- which also exposed the shape of his shoulders, revealing them to be pronounced and muscular. His hands, ungloved as they were, were accented by slender fingers and areas where veins could be seen. He was a living mosaic, comprised of several different aspects, all creating an atmosphere of beauty within strength.

As the silence drew on, Cloud also began to realize the very short distance between Sephiroth's hand that rested across the back of the sofa, and the back of Cloud's own neck. The closeness almost burned, and created an uncomfortable feeling in Cloud that mocked his awkwardness. If only he had enough courage to touch that hand.

Thoughts stretched on, Sephiroth being ever patient with the young blonde's silence.

Perhaps it was love. Perhaps Cloud was just another groupie -- another young man who took Shinra's silver-haired-bait to join their military and help in the fight at Wutai.

Zack had certainly rushed him into this, he thought.

And if it was love, how was he supposed to know? He didn't really feel any different than the last time they were alone together, only now he was worrying about whether or not Sephiroth would ask him again why he was "attempting a romantic advance" upon him. Besides, love was something that came after long periods of knowing someone intimately.

Cloud looked downwards, suddenly downtrodden. What if he had put himself in this situation based off of a wrong assumption?

Sephiroth turned his gaze to Cloud, noticing the doubt upon his face.

"Have I offended you?" he asked, "I apologize for my social incompetence."

Cloud looked up, putting his hands out before him hastily.

"Of course not! I mean... It's just that... I don't know..."

Sephiroth tilted his head slightly to the side.

"I have confided in you. It is a trait of friendship to share a common trust, I understand," he said.

"Sir?"

"Tell me what troubles you."

Cloud slouched, a king in checkmate, and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I'm just confused is all..."

Sephiroth, while not understanding in the least, nodded and looked back out to the window.

"Sir--"

"I thought that you preferred calling me by name," Sephiroth put forth casually.

Cloud blushed and, while still facing him, directed his eyes elsewhere.

"S...Sephiroth..." he paused, "What do you think of me?"

Immediately, Sephiroth could catch snatches of Zack asking him the very same question, and several others pertaining to the same subject. He could recall the sweat that was beading on the back of his neck as he pushed his pen across paper, condemning his comrades to war. And yet Zack made him feel slightly less guilty.

"And if I am forced to send your platoon to Wutai?" Sephiroth had asked coldly.

"Then we would kick ass, and come back to bug you some more," Zack had replied with a laugh.

Zack keeping Sephiroth's mind on Cloud had seemed to distract him from the pain of judgement.

"Currently, I find your company pleasing," Sephiroth answered Cloud, a smile suddenly flickering across his face, "We are family."

Cloud moved slightly closer to him, immediately placing his hands in his lap,his elbows locked mechanically and looking to his knees. His face was relentless in it's pinkish-red hue.

Sephiroth appeared to be puzzling over something, looking at Cloud, his body becoming less tense.

"What do you think of me?" Sephiroth asked in his voidic voice, seeming as if he were mearly trying to keep Cloud away from the silences that so bothered him. The look on his face read that he was only barely interested, his eyes shifting to the outside world, lingering on the distant starlight that had appeared in scattered areas of the sky.

Cloud seemed to be terrible at playing this game of chess. Every time that he managed to get his king away from Sephiroth's peices, he found himself in check the very next turn.

"I...like you a lot," Cloud replied, looking slowly up to Sephiroth. His eyes lingered on the General's half-closed eyes. He looked relaxed, as if the encounter with Scarlet had been forgotten.

Sephiroth sighed, making a small sound that acknowledged that Cloud had said something.

Shakily, Cloud moved closer to Sephiroth once more, leaning towards him carefully. Sephiroth seemed either not to notice, or not to care. Cloud could feel his heartbeat in his throat again as he leaned closer and closer. Gently, he laid his lips against Sephiroth's cheek lingering for only a fraction of a second before hastily leaning back and sitting with his elbows locked and his hands on his knees, looking to the ground. His cheeks were fiery.

Sephiroth looked to Cloud in response, his face slightly confused, and his hand coming to lightly touch where Cloud had kissed him.

How strange. He had never been kissed before. He stared at Cloud, leaning forward so as to be able to regard Cloud with his full attention, wondering what he had done to deserve such a thing.

And yet, there was a fragment of something within him that felt somehow good, somehow happy that Cloud had mustered the courage to do such a thing. It must have taken quite the willpower on his behalf, for Sephiroth had observed that Cloud was rather uncomfortable when around him.

"F...Forgive me... But I do not know the appropriate way to respond to...such a gesture," Sephiroth said with genuine apologetic nature, regardless of his stone-featured face.

Cloud swallowed hard and looked back to Sephiroth, putting his hands up before him. He started to apologize, but noticed that his hands were shaking violently, causing him to close his mouth before he had begun, and thrust his hands between his knees.

It was entirely visible the effort that Cloud was putting forth, and Sephiroth hadn't the slightest on how to react. He had never been put into such a situation. Slowly, he leaned back against the sofa, raking his fingers through his hair.

After mustering a great deal of forced courage through silently scolding himself, Cloud peered at Sephiroth through the corner of his eye. This was much harder than any Shinra exam.

The look upon Sephiroth's face was as it was expected to be, entirely apathetic, save for his eyes, which read a great deal of puzzlement. Cloud interpreted this as his own error and, with sweat blooming on the back of his nervous neck, forced himself to speak.

"I... I'm sorry, sir... I didn't mean to put you... in a situation where..." Cloud trailed off, the overall stress of it nearly bringing him to tears.

Sephiroth looked to Cloud curiously. What had he done now? It appeared that Cloud was about to cry. Silently, Sephiroth looked back to the window, returning breifly to thought.

He supposed that when one recieved a sign of affection that one did not feel disdain for, one was to return it.

He wished that Zack were there to tell him what to do, or what all of this meant.

Sephiroth leaned forwards, and turned his body to face Cloud. He reached out with resolve and took Cloud's chin between his thumb and index finger, the heat from his face radiating into said fingers. He leaned forward, touching his lips to Cloud's cheek, then pulling back and releasing Cloud's chin.

Sephiroth examined Cloud's face, which, eyes still sligtly full of premature tears, and cheeks still red, was astonished.

Neither one of them moved for a long period of time, their eyes avoiding one another.

Cloud, at long last, after having processed what had happened, smiled gently and looped his arms around Sephiroth's neck, embracing him.

Sephiroth had reached his limit.

"Pardon my social ignorance... But I do not understand the meaning of your gestures, Cloud."

Cloud laughed out loud with the unexpected delight at hearing the General call him something other than Private. He remained locked in the embrace.

"It means that...I like you..." Cloud said softly.

Words came to him much more easily now.

Sephiroth, still generally confused, put a hand on Cloud's back, his cheeks turning slightly pink, and his face morphing to read his confusion intermixed with the distant appreciation for such attention.

Suddenly, there was a dense, loud knock upon the door of Sephiroth's appartment.

"Seph! Spiky! You guys gettin it on, yet?!" called Zack from the other side.

Quietly, a small sigh could be heard exiting Cloud's lips as he released Sephiroth and sat back against the sofa. Sephiroth paused to look at Cloud for a moment, analyzing his expression, before standing calmly and answering the door.

"SEPH! Your clothes are half-off!" Zack exclaimed with surprise, his eyes the size of orbs of materia.

Sephiroth looked down to his exposed chest and abdomen and then to Zack, saying nothing.

Zack caught his breath and drew close to Sephiroth, his expression scrutinizing. He sniffed at Sephiroth three times and then raised a brow as his eyes met with Sephiroth's slightly pink cheeks.

"You smell like Cloud," Zack said slyly, "And you're... blushing!"

Sephiroth turned from Zack and began towards the small dial beside the lightswitch on the wall, replying, "I had not noticed."

He turned the dial upwards, causing the lights to increase in brightness, and looked between Zack and Cloud.

"Will you be spending the night? I have observed that your attendance at the barracks has been significantly decreased of late."

Zack laughed, closing the door.

"Well, we weren't going to, but since you invited us..."


	5. Chapter 5

Air, sun-kissed and smelling crisp, crept in between the individual panels of the venetian blinds that had been drawn over the only window in the room. The only sound that could be heard tainting the innocent perfection of the virgin day was the soft breathy sounds issuing forth from the mouths of two young men that laid close, but not touching the third, who was the only of the three who was not deep in slumber.

The small slivers of light coming in through the blinds had been what had awoken him. The way that the light played upon the red translucence of the inside of Sephiroth's lids never allowed sleep. They could not even be at rest merely closed, his lids were either open, or discomforted.

Sluggishly, he dragged his eyes to the digital clock that sat beside the generic bed. The red numbers read that it was 700 hours. He only sighed in response to the disappointment that he would not have time to bathe before one of his physicians arrived. Gently, he began to roll over, preparing to rise.

A hand fell upon his own, for the sleeping blonde had rolled over as well.

It was warm against Sephiroth's hand, and he took a moment to look upon the contact.

Suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and in came a white-lab-coated Shinra scientist, looking down upon his clipboard and scribbling something before fully regarding Sephiroth. Today it was Professor Hojo, which meant that today would be one of the more unpleasant examinations.

The man had a hunched posture, and strings of his long black hair fell messily over his face as the rest was pulled back into a tail upon the back of his head. He wore a pair of glasses that seemed blotched subtly with dust. He had a pale complexion, and his expression was interminably scrutinizing and halfway amused. He seemed to dearly enjoy his examinations when Sephiroth was his subject.

"This is strange. You are not as timely as you usually are," said the greasy-looking man, "Your record shows that you have never overslept, and yet..."

Hojo paused, looking upon the lieutenant and cadet that lay sleeping in his specimen's bed.

"Now... That cannot be within regulation," he said, beginning to scribble and cackle absently.

Sephiroth stood and approached the professor.

"Fraternizing of the sort that occurred the previous night is not against regulation, I assure you."

Hojo simply cackled once more and began to lead Sephiroth out of his apartment and into the endless maze of halls and elevators that lead to the scientific observatory.

"I will be taking multiple X-rays, as well as C.T scans of your brain. There will also be bone-marrow biopsy as well as a cerebral spinal fluid culture," Hojo paused to look about the room and drum his fingers against his clipboard in his usual paranoid fashion, "Before those tests, you will demonstrate your endurance. All of your training for the day has been canceled."

Sephiroth merely nodded, regardless of how he knew what pain ensued as a needle would be inserted not only into the marrow of his bones, but also into his spinal cord, puncturing his meninges.

Hojo made a motion with his hand, ushering Sephiroth to begin sprinting on the treadmill that was located not a few feet away, against the wall of the eerie white room.

Other objects in the room included a surgical table surrounded needles sitting upon little stainless steel carts, a counter against the wall opposite the treadmill, an electrocardiograph machine, and several test-tubes and machines that Sephiroth could not recall the names of.

His coat still undone from the night before, he shrugged it off of his shoulders and tossed it onto a stool sitting by the door before moving to stand upon the treadmill, allowing Hojo to secure several suction-cups that were connected to the electrocardiograph machine. When Hojo pressed the final button and the repeating sound of the machine beeping to the beat of Sephiroth's heart issued forth, Sephiroth began to sprint. He breathed inward for every six strides, and outward for every other six, his lungs feeling relaxed and barely under any stress, even as the hours wore on.

Hojo, seeming to finally become bored of reading the electrocardiograph that was being printed from the machine after hours of doing so, made a strange throaty noise that sounded like the clearing of phlegm.

"Homosexual tendencies are new, then?" he inquired, referring to finding him in bed with Cloud and Zack and readying his pen over his clipboard.

Sephiroth stumbled slightly in mid stride, but caught himself and continued accordingly. The beeping on the electrocardiograph sped for a moment, before returning to normal.

"You can't hide from me like you do with everyone else," Hojo added with a cackle as he tapped the butt of his pen against the electrocardiograph machine.

"I do not see how this information would benefit your studies of my physical aptitude," replied Sephiroth coldly, his breaths temporarily disrupted from their norm due to the speech.

"So that's a yes?"

Hojo seemed genuinely to enjoy making Sephiroth emote, most likely because of how much he knew that Sephiroth hated to.

"I do not have homosexual tendencies."

Hojo scribbled something upon his clipboard and pressed the power button on the electrocardiograph machine, ripping the paper from the printer attached and motioning towards the surgical table, his face clearly displaying the excitement he felt for Sephiroth's unavoidable reaction.

Sephiroth's eyes shifted to the cold, metallic surgical table and he hesitated. He had anticipated this feeling, for it was a reoccurring feeling whenever he was forced upon that table. He was glad that he was no longer attached to the electrocardiograph machine, for it would betray that his heart was beginning to race. The needles sitting beside the table seemed to mock his undeniable fear of them. The pain of them penetrating his bones and spine roused a fear within him that, while he dared not facially display, was obvious in the way that Hojo had to summon him once more.

Slowly, his bare abdominal and thoracic regions were exposed to the cold metal of the table as he laid down. He could faintly sense his hands shaking.

"Expose your posterior iliac crest," instructed Hojo, suddenly turning from his torturing, cackling nature to one of business.

Sephiroth lowered his pants and rolled onto his front, giving the professor access to the back of his pelvic bone.

The needle used to probe Sephiroth's marrow had the appearance of an old fashioned cork-remover. The needle itself had a large diameter for a needle, and at the top, rather than a tube-resevoir, there was a removable screw-top.

Sephiroth closed his eyes and resolved to regulate his breathing as if he were still sprinting. He silently counted to six, then down from six, and repeated, for he knew for a fact that Hojo would not be using any anesthetics or mild sedatives, as was generally recommended for the procedure. He blatantly enjoyed seeing his subjects in pain, and had even admitted it on a certain number of occasions.

The needle made soft contact with Sephiroth's hip, the sharp tip causing a simplistic sting, the calm before the storm.

"They say that bone-pain is the worst there is," Hojo whispered through his toothy grin as he sterilized the area and began to press the needle into Sephiroth's flesh.

Sephiroth uttered not a sound, but rather bit down hard and clenched his fists so tightly that it made his knuckles burn as the needle made contact with bone.

Hojo began with the screwing motion of the needle that would get it through the boney cortex, and into the marrow cavity. Small sounds of pain were held within Sephiroth's throat, for the tightness of his teeth together would not allow sound to exit directly through an open mouth.

The screwing went on for what seemed to be an infinite of eternities, and then finally, he broke through. Sephiroth finally had to release scream, a sound that only barely muffled the professor's outright laughter as he replaced the screw-head with a reservoir tube, and began to aspirate the marrow.

Hojo pulled out the needle carefully, removed the tube and set the dirty torture device aside.

"Cerebral fluid next -- don't get too comfortable."

Sephiroth was suddenly out of breath as he reached down to re-clothe his lower half and then roll onto his side, bringing his knees up against his chest, preparing himself for the next procedure. The metal had gone from cold to hot in a matter of what appeared to be 15 minutes.

When Hojo turned round, he had an entirely new needle in his hand and a grin upon his face, his eyes wide.

The needle was even longer than the previous, but the diameter was smaller. Before Sephiroth could prepare himself mentally for the new session of pain, the needle was driven into his spine, the motion only slowing as he could feel it prod at his meninges. Sephiroth restrained a flexion of the muscles in his back, a result of reflex, and his bit down hard again.

"Oh, yes. Don't Move," Hojo added a moment too late.

Five minutes after the needle insertion, Hojo was finished and removed the needle, cleaning the site of the puncture and slapping a bandage over it.

"Can you walk, boy?" he asked, peering down at the miserable General, whose face only barely melted to the pain that radiated throughout his bones and spine.

"Yes," coughed Sephiroth as he rose, wobbled, and began to follow Hojo into the neighboring room.

Within the room was a C.T machine, and a glass cube in which several computers were located, behind many of which sat new Shinra scientists, all looking eager to see the brain of the most powerful man to live.

Hojo made another motion with his hand, and Sephiroth laid down upon the platform that would slide into the machine. The only thing that followed was the sound similar to that of a hammer being slammed against something metallic.

Zack yawned and thrust his hand into the air, looking like a student who had an answer to a question issued from a teacher.

Wedge awkwardly shifted his gaze over to the second class SOLDIER and responded in a timid fashion, "Sir?"

Both Biggs -- who stood between Wedge and Cloud -- and Wedge knew that Zack no longer approved of them.

" 'Scuse me, but I didn't want to interrupt your tea-party, girls," said Zack, taking Cloud underneath his arm and mussing his hair with his knuckles.

Cloud struggled, but of course could not wrench himself loose of a mako-fueled grip.

"Zaaaacckkk!" Cloud moaned, determined to free himself.

"Cloudia and me, here, have to go get her a pregnancy test. She's gaining some weight, you see..." Zack moved his knuckles from noogying Cloud's head, to prodding Cloud's stomach, "and we want to see if there's something growin' in there."

Biggs and Wedge made eye-contact, their faces disturbed beneath their helmets.

Zack looked between the two and was astonished by the lack of laughter, taking a moment to recover from his horribly failed joke.

"How about this... I'm taking bets on whether or not you guys think it'll come out with silver hair, or with black hair!"

Biggs and Wedge looked at one another once again and then both looked to Cloud with singularly raised brows.

"Why wouldn't it come out with blond hair?" asked Cloud, innocently not understanding the joke.

"Why would it have silver hair?" asked Biggs and Wedge in unison.

Zack released Cloud and slumped in defeat.

"You three are no fun."

The four had come together by chance, or the more likely possibility, by Zack begging his superiors to bump up Cloud to a more interesting patrol. They had stumbled upon Biggs and Wedge while exiting the city limits and Cloud had felt the need to be polite and say hello for a while.

Zack, however, was getting bored.

"Come on! We've got monsters to own!" Zack urged, tugging lightly on Cloud's arm, and sticking his tongue out at Biggs and Wedge.

Cloud shrugged apologetically and waved goodbye to his fellow grunts, allowing himself to be hauled off by the lieutenant.

As the day wore on, only three monsters were found wandering about the bare tundra that immediately surrounded Midgar, and they were mere bandersnatches. Zack forced Cloud to fight one, sticking his sword into the ground and sitting down.

"Oh, look. I seem to have fallen," he said while getting comfortable, "looks like you need to defend us, Cloud."

Cloud looked between the bandersnatch and Zack a few times, drawing forth the machine gun that usually rested, unused, on his back.

He shot several times, the recoil of the gun jostling him into missing. The monster dodged all of the badly aimed shots and, growling and salivating, charged Cloud.

Frantically, Cloud dropped the machine gun to the ground and drew his sword. The bandersnatch leapt into the air and began to descend upon Cloud, it's claws and fangs drawing ever nearer to his neck.

Just before the point of contact, Cloud swung his sword in a horizontal arc, the blade knocking the monster away from him and sticking into the monster's side. The sword, however, slipped from Cloud's fingers. He dropped to the ground and grasped for the gun that he had dropped and began shooting on automatic, hitting the beast several times, while he scuttled backwards in terror.

The monster was dead.

Zack rose, took up his sword and then Cloud's sword, tossing it up into the air and catching it by the flat of the blade, holding it out so that Cloud could grasp the handle.

Cloud took his sword with a look of horror on his face. Zack had to pull him up onto his feet.

After defeating the other two, Zack and Cloud, having finished their shifts, began back towards the Shinra Headquarters.

"So... You had Seph half-naked last night," Zack said with a tone that clearly showed his perverted idea of the possible scenario that could have resulted in such a thing.

Cloud looked downwards and began to twiddle his fingers.

"Why is it that we always have to talk about Sephiroth?" he asked quietly.

Zack scoffed and replied, "Fine. You think of something else to talk about."

"I got a letter from home this morning -- "

Zack interrupted him before the conversation could actually get it's topic changed, "How'd you get Seph to take off his clothes?!"

Cloud groaned and looked to Zack with a face that looked almost annoyed, but the fact that his cheeks were faintly heated made him look more pouty than annoyed.

"I didn't! His coat was already undone when he came into the room..."

"And?"

"And...what...?"

"What happened?!"

Cloud sped up his pace and replied, "We ate, we cleaned up, and then we sat together and talked."

Zack tightened his lips and glared at Cloud dramatically, a demand for more information.

Cloud sighed sadly.

"Promise you wont tease either me or the General?"

Zack giggled and hastily answered the affirmative.

"Director Scarlet bothered him again..."

Zack made a "pfft" sound and crossed his arms behind his neck comfortably, "I wish she would visit me as much as she visits him. I probably wouldn't be sleeping with you and Seph as often, if you get my meaning!"

Cloud looked up to Zack, his face reading genuine anger.

"Don't say that! Director Scarlet is a bad woman for what she does to the General!"

Zack closed his eyes lazily as he walked on, grinning absently.

"I mean, seriously! Have you seen her rack? She's fit for the cover of any of the magazines hidden under my mattress!" Zack continued.

Cloud stopped walking and his face, while his cheeks were bright pink, his eyes were ripe with anger.

"Stop it."

"Dude -- you can't deny it. She's freakin hot. If anything, Seph's a lucky guy for her to be all over him like that!" pressed Zack good-naturedly as he stopped walking and regarded Cloud.

A fist, fast as Cloud could push, flew up and hit Zack's cheek, causing him to take a step back. It was over in what seemed to be a one-millionth of a second, which was much too slow. Cloud felt the skin on his knuckles split upon contact, and bloodstains soon decorated his pale gloves.

Zack put a hand against his reddening cheek and looked to the blond cadet with pure dumbfoundedness.

"You hit me."

Cloud looked down to his feet, his fists still balled at his sides. He was visibly shaking with anger.

"Sephiroth doesn't deserve what that woman tries to do to him! She...tortures him..." Cloud said quietly, anger still palpable in his voice.

Zack sighed at long length, lowering his head so that Cloud could not see his eyes. His hand lingered at where Cloud had struck him.

"Fair enough."

Cloud suddenly felt horrible for what he had done. How could he have hit someone who had been his closest friend since the very day they met? Zack had always been kind to him, regardless of his unending teasing. He would have defended Cloud against any harm.

Zack certainly did not deserve to be hit. He was only joking, after all.

"Zack... I'm sorry..." Cloud began, reaching out to put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Zack shied away from the contact and looked up, suddenly grinning widely.

"I knew that you would man up eventually, Spiky," he said, taking his hand away from the redness on his cheek and laughing lightly.

Cloud could tell that Zack was still hurt emotionally by the blow, and took a few steps forward, throwing his arms around Zack's neck and holding him tightly.

"I really am sorry, Zack..." he whispered with every ounce of sincerity that he felt.

Zack was taken aback by the embrace and took a few steps back, his eyes wide. However, he smiled a smile that was not just for show, and wrapped his arms around the slightly shorter blonde.

"Next time you hit me, girly, I'm gonna bust your face in," Zack said, a subtle accept of Cloud's apology that was laced with good-natured laughter.

Cloud laughed out loud and replied, "I'll never do it again. I promise."

The embrace ended and the two set out towards their home once more.

It was precisely fifteen minutes after 1900 hours, when the incessant knocking began.

Sephiroth had been laying on his side beneath a thin blanket stretched out over his bed. Silently he had laid there for hours, simply begging sleep to come. The faint remnant of Cloud's scent still clung to the pillow under his head, and the sweetness of it made him recall his conversation with Zack regarding the Private. The smell also roused images of Cloud's wide blue eyes set above blushing cheeks, and caused a foreign sense of fondness.

The pain was still present, and was expected to be present until the next morning. He was advised against vigorous activity for the next three days, and was prescribed paperwork over training accordingly. Four times a year, he suffered this fate. His bones ached, the site where the needle had bore into his marrow still exploded with pain as if the needle were still drilling away at the bone protecting it.

The knocking did not seem to go away, which meant only one thing. Lieutenant Zackary Fair, SOLDIER Second Class. He wondered if Cloud was also on the other side of his door, standing beside Zack, looking embarrassed at how much of a scene the Lieutenant was making.

Slowly, Sephiroth forced himself out of bed. Each movement sent a pang of almost electric pain up his spine that seemed to hesitate in the hole in his hip before moving on to every nerve below and adjacent. He counted the miserable steps that took him closer to the door. One. Two. Three... Eight. Nine. Ten...Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen.

Finally, Sephiroth curled his fingers around the knob and turned it.

Zack peeked in through the crack and quickly burst in, missing a collision with Sephiroth by only a few inches. Cloud followed timidly after, waving while smiling sweetly. Sephiroth's eyes were closed, his brows drawn downwards in an effort to keep the electric ache that radiated throughout his body from his face. He mechanically shut the door, keeping his hand on the knob, using it to prop himself up.

The black-haired bolt of energy regarded Sephiroth with a wide grin.

"Cloud decked me today!" he announced proudly.

Sephiroth, the sound of his heart hammering in his ears, was not listening. He stepped forward, teetering subtly.

Zack began to laugh at Cloud's stuttering reaction, apologizing vigorously to the both of them, resulting in the Lieutenant clapping a hand to Sephiroth's lower back, a gesture of laughter and camaraderie that ended in a scream.

Sephiroth cried out in pain as Zack's hand made a crude expiration of pain from the very site where the needle had been inserted into his spine. He fell to the ground, his knees weak from the puncture in the posterior region of his pelvic bone.

Cloud and Zack went promptly silent, Zack taking a few large fearful steps backwards. Sephiroth had always been able to keep away from Zack on the days where Hojo would perform more in-depth examinations, and as a result, Zack had never seen him in such a state. No one had.

"S...Seph...?" Zack whispered, appearing terrified of hurting his close friend.

Sephiroth, with much effort, rose to his feet and took two steps forward before collapsing.

Cloud was horrified when he caught the silver-haired First Class. He had never even imagined seeing the General in such a state. He had never even thought it possible. He was supposed to be invincible.

Sephiroth hesitated when he fell into Cloud's arms, his eyes widening for a brief moment before Cloud lowered himself slowly down so that he was sitting upon his knees and holding Sephiroth gently, allowing him to rest directly upon the floor.

The question "What happened?" was hanging in the air, but was never asked. Horror.

"What do you need me to do?" Cloud asked bravely as Zack was frantic a few feet away, tears blooming and falling freely down his cheeks.

Sephiroth breathed out, "The... bed..." in agony.

Cloud looked over his shoulder to Zack and as his own tears began to wash his cheeks, commanded, "Help me," with an unknown authority.

Zack nodded hysterically and helped one of Sephiroth's arms over his neck as Cloud did the same. They hauled the tall General to his bed, his feet sadly dragging on the floor.

Silently crying, Cloud drew the blanket up over Sephiroth's trembling figure.

Zack was sniffling and wiping at his eyes with the back of his forearm, sitting on his knees beside the bed.

"I...still have that restore materia..." Cloud said softly, hope gleaming in his eyes.

"No. It has been requested... that I heal naturally," his speech seemed constructed more of air than of words.

"What the fuck kind of monster would do this?!" Zack finally shouted.

Sephiroth and Cloud were silent, Sephiroth merely breathing shallowly and Cloud sitting on the bed beside Sephiroth, his gaze fixed upon him.

"Who the fuck did it?! Damn it, tell me! I'll kill them!"

Zack rested his head against the side of the bed and cried hysterically.

"Professor Hojo," Sephiroth finally answered after a long intake of air.

Cloud had heard the name before, but was only barely listening.

"Are you... going to be all right, sir?" he asked softly, his hands on his knees.

Sephiroth shifted his gaze to Cloud, and a smile flickered across his face. It was the only answer Cloud needed, for Sephiroth seemed as if he did not want to continue to speaking.

"Zack... calm down.." Cloud whispered empathetically, "Everything will be fine."

Zack merely continued to sob.

Cloud took a moment to think of something comforting to say as the tears did not cease to streak down his own face.

"Will... you take me to Wutai... when the war is over?" he paused, "I want to see the cherry blossoms in spring, and the pagodas... I've seen photos of the little towns, and they look...so pretty. I want to see it without all of the killing..."

Sephiroth laughed softly, his eyes closing slowly.

"I... do not understand the value of aesthetics..." he mumbled.

Zack looked up, his crying becoming quiet.

"He... made a joke..." he sniffled.

Cloud smiled through his tears and nodded.

Suddenly, as he became distracted from the pain, what Zack had said when first entering the apartment registered in Sephiroth's mind.

"Cloud... Why did you strike Zack?" he asked accusingly.

Cloud abruptly returned to his shy, blushing nature, but could think of nothing to say.

Sephiroth began in a defense of the lieutenant.

"It is unacceptable to harm those of whom you are close to. It is a dereliction of trust."

Cloud's cheeks heated and he could not find the strength to look at his scolder. He deserved whatever Sephiroth had to say. Hitting Zack was the most horrible thing that he could ever recall doing. He hated a little bit of himself for it.

Zack put a hand on Sephiroth's arm, and smiled broadly, wiping away his tears with his forearm again.

"I was talking about Scarlet and said something dishonorable. He was defending...you."

Sephiroth, his gaze never faltering from Cloud, the expression within those almost glowing green eyes of his changed from insulted to a softer one -- unreadable, save for the shift in opinion. Why would Cloud strike anyone, let alone Zack? Even if it was to defend someone, it made little sense to him.

"I... do not understand."

Cloud remained silent, a lump rising in his throat as nervousness took control of his tongue.

"He really likes you, Seph. A lot."

"I am aware... He has informed me."

Zack, his tears coming upon a slower rate in their flowing, and his voice becoming sturdy once more, looked awkwardly between the obviously uncomfortable cadet and the innocent war-master. If he didn't say anything, he knew that Cloud wouldn't either.

Cloud, as Zack opened his mouth to speak, slid off of the bed and opened the door, not looking back when he mumbled, "I'll...be right back..." and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Sephiroth didn't entirely care that he had left the room in an out-of-the-ordinary fashion for his personality, but Zack felt that later he would have some serious apologizing for what he was about to do.

"Seph... I know that it's hard for you -- all of these social nuances."

Sephiroth merely sighed and closed his eyes. He was grateful for the sympathy that Zack provided for his situation, but never seemed to be able to give the right reaction when it was his turn to speak. The irony of that was agonizing.

"And Cloud knows, too... it's just hard for him to talk about the way that he likes you, because he likes you so much."

"I do not entirely understand why he has such an attachment to me," breathed Sephiroth, exhaustion returning to his voice.

"You've been clinging to that pillow ever since we laid you here. That was the pillow that Cloud slept on last night," Zack pointed out the way that Sephiroth clutched at the pillow that still smelled like it's previous user.

Sephiroth had not even noticed that he had been doing it. He opened his mouth to speak, but could think of nothing to say. He supposed that he had a strange, unexplained affinity for the young man as well.

"He loves you, Sephiroth," Zack said after a clarifying silence, smiling.

"So he attempted a romantic advance last night through food and conversation?"

Zack made a confirming sound, and Sephiroth's face melted into thought. That's why Cloud had kissed him.

"What.... should I do...?" asked the General.

"You know," Zack chuckled, "He asked me the very same thing."

Sephiroth sighed deeply in a sad sort of confusion and pushed his face into the pillow, taking comfort in the familiar smell.

"Remember when I asked you what you thought of him?"

The General nodded, remembering as if it had been moments ago.

"Well answer me again. Think hard about it, though."

Sephiroth slowly opened his eyes into narrow openings, where the bluish green of his eyes bore through like the light through his venetian blinds.

"I do not know what love feels like," he said softly, thought painted thickly across his handsome face.

"Are you okay with him loving you?" asked Zack, shifting to sit on his rump rather than his knees and resting his chin against the edge of the bed.

"I suppose. I enjoy his presence."

Zack laughed and smiled bittersweetly, "I think you love him too."

The doorknob began to turn, and the two SOLDIERs shifted their gaze to watch Cloud enter the room once more. There was a distinct redness about the skin below his eyes that was physical evidence of his crying mixed with a still-present bloom of red upon his cheeks. His mouth was straight in a worried line as he moved forwards to the bed and held out a glass of water to Sephiroth.

"I thought that... you might need this..." he said with a make-shift smile.

"I am not -- " Sephiroth paused, looked to Zack, and began anew, "...Thank you."

Cloud hesitated, but seemed elated that he had done something helpful. He sat upon the edge of the bed, beside where Zack rested his chin, and slid his hand underneath Sephiroth's head, his fingers intermingling with wisps of silver hair, and propped up his head gently. Sephiroth seemed astounded by the nature physical contact, not facially, but through that invisible feature of his. Softly, like handling something precious, Cloud put the half-full glass of water to Sephiroth's lips and tilted it so that the water slowly met with his mouth.

Zack, in a moment of circumstantial contrast, was wearing a grin so large that it actually hurt his cheeks. Neither Cloud, nor Sephiroth noticed this, for they were locked in a moment of eye-contact where Cloud's concern for the General was an image in his eyes, and Sephiroth's efforts for self-understanding were hidden beneath unreadable eyes. Sephiroth seemed to speak a language that Cloud could not understand when it came to thoughts. Zack was proud that Sephiroth had accepted the water. It was little things that were significant to the General. He was someone who never experienced receiving affection or concern, making Cloud's shy way of caring, when it was understandable for him, so much more important.

When Cloud took the water from Sephiroth's lips, setting it down on the end-table where a lamp and a military manual sat idly, he could not seem to look away.

Zack stood up, sent Sephiroth a stern look that meant that he could tell Cloud of what they spoke of when he was gone, and moved to the door.

"I have... some stuff to do," he lied before leaving the two alone, shutting the door behind him.

Sephiroth needed time to think. This was entirely unfair -- the springing of such information and then the pressure of making an immediate decision. He did enjoy being alone with Cloud, however. He closed his eyes and tightened his hold on the pillow until sounds of the seams tearing could be heard. He quickly released the pillow and moved his hands away from it. They landed on something warm.

He opened an eye to find that it was Cloud's hand that they had come upon unconsciously. He allowed them to remain.

"I'm sure that... Zack told you..." Cloud said in a shy volume, "..about the way that I feel..."

Sephiroth attempted some movement, trying to sit up, but the acute pain that resulted from the movement sent him back down. Cloud quickly put a hand on Sephiroth's shoulder, during the movement, his face ridden with worry. When Sephiroth laid back down against the bed, Cloud quickly drew back his hand and blushed profusely. It happened to be the hand that Sephiroth had not placed his own on, allowing them to remain.

"Sephiroth... Sir... I think that I..." Cloud looked away, took a deep breath inwards, swallowed hard, and looked back to Sephiroth with blushing resolve, "I think that I...love you."

Sephiroth still said nothing. He simply wondered how their relationship could have gone from him thinking that the blonde was utterly unfit for military and a disgrace to the Shinra name, to this.

In the silence, Cloud's heartbeat escalated to something that he was sure was completely unhealthy. He felt as if he was going to go into cardiac arrest. It was a mixture of apprehension, anxiety, fear, and a sort of excitement for Sephiroth's reply.

The light from outside of the window was dimming as the sun set, causing orange-ish reflections to form on Sephiroth's pauldrons that sat atop his coat upon a chair in the corner of the room beside his removed boots.

A voice made of stone sounded quietly, "I envy your ability to decode your emotions."

Cloud laughed gently, looking down to the man that he had professed his love for with the eyes of an affectionate guardian. He understood that more time would be needed, and respected that.

The understanding was palpable in that laugh, and Sephiroth was relieved to hear it.

In a motion made of calm gentleness, Sephiroth curled the fingers of both of his hands around Cloud's hand, sliding one beneath while the other rested atop it and interlacing his fingers together. He was happy that neither of them were wearing gloves. Cloud had taken his off after they started to get stained with the blood of his split knuckles.

Cloud could feel himself trembling as he ran his thumb gently over Sephiroth's own with the hand that he held. He looked timidly to Sephiroth's unique eyes, only to find that they were closed and the look of pure serenity that took his face when he slept was present.

It was easier for Cloud to think when Sephiroth's penetrating stare wasn't boring into him. He gazed contentedly down to him, keeping in mind his reaction the last time that he was touched in his sleep, while reaching down with his free hand to move stray tendrils of silver from Sephiroth's face. He did not wake.

Slowly, softly, Cloud leaned down and pressed his lips against Sephiroth's forehead before sliding his hand out of the General's hold. He moved to the door and looked back to Sephiroth, smiling faintly before leaving the room quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

Tseng looked over his shoulder and glared viciously. How utterly ridiculous -- the precise reason why the Turks hated SOLDIER.

"Don't look so pissy, Tongue! You're just mad because you Turks are the geeks of Shinra," laughed the Second Class, Zack Fair.

"It's pronounced _Tseng_," snapped Tseng in response, flipping open his cellular telephone and pressing a series of buttons before holding it to his ear and starting a conversation with one of his fellow Turks.

Zack was intentionally trying to be annoying to the poor Turk and Cloud, who trudged tiredly behind the troupe. It was useless attempting to annoy Sephiroth, for the most annoyed he ever got was to simply question the reason for annoying behavior, which was always unexplainable.

He was walking with his pants pulled up until they would go no higher, his series of belts resting uneasily around his chest, and walking beside Tseng, mimicking him in a caricature-fashion, exaggerating his perfect posture and the way that his arms moved when he walked, making him out to be a snobby figure.

"Hey Seph, how can you tell if someone is a Turk undercover?" he asked, a sly grin upon his face as he peered at Tseng through the corner of his eye.

Sephiroth sighed and shifted his gaze to the vista that stretched out to the horizon below the cliff upon which they walked, not replying.

"Because they're surgically attached to their phones!" Zack finished, lowering his pants to where they belonged, resulting in a sound of relief from Cloud, several feet behind.

The four of them had been assigned to investigate terrorist activity in Gongaga. Zack had been in an outrageously good mood, seeing as how Tseng had said that, after the rallying was broken up, the three militants would be staying at Zack's mother's home, upon her own request. Tseng would be flying back to Shinra Inc.

After being dropped off several miles away from the town, so as to avoid drawing the attention of the Anti-Shinra rabble-rousers, the four had to walk their way to town. The plan, having been briefed by Tseng, was for Tseng to wait outside city limits while Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud broke up the conflict in the center of the town, then moved to the Gongaga Mako Reactor to defeat several monsters that had been released into the reactor by rebels in an effort to destroy the inner workings of it. At the end of the operation, Tseng would tie up the loose ends, and make sure that everything was returned to normal.

"So this is where you're from, Zack?" Cloud asked, gasping for air.

Zack looked over his shoulder, completely unfazed by the distance that they had been walking, "Damn skippy! I can't wait for mom to meet you guys! She's gonna love you two! I wouldn't be surprised if she's already got food in the oven for us -- it's been so long since I've had a home-cooked meal. Seph, you'll probably jizz your pants at my mom's cooking."

Cloud laughed softly under his labored breath. He was exhausted, and the mission had not even started yet. On the way over, in a helicopter piloted by an arrogant red-head that he had discovered was named Reno, he had become motion-sick at his reckless flying, and nearly vomited. The sick feeling remained in his throat as he huffed his way up the cliff.

Sephiroth, only barely listening, neglected to inquire what "jizz" was, regardless of how he did not understand the term.

Tseng looked disgusted by the conversation and returned to talking into his phone. He truly hated SOLDIER. Sephiroth, however, he was neutral towards, seeing as how he had done nothing to earn his disliking.

"I'm sure that... a home-cooked meal--" Cloud began, but was quickly stopped as his toe caught on a jagged rock that stuck out of the ground, tripping him, and causing him to plummet towards the edge of the cliff.

Like a bolt of lightning, Sephiroth shot from where he previously walked to catch Cloud before he could tumble off of the cliff, where certain death loomed among the rocks that decorated the bottom.

Cloud looked up at his saviour with wide eyes and slightly parted lips. Sephiroth's bright green eyes bore into Cloud's own as eye-contact was made, and they seemed to linger there for a long time, trying to understand Cloud's expression.

Cloud's cheeks began to heat, and he laughed nervously.

"Th..thank you, sir..." he uttered shyly.

Tseng cleared his throat, drawing the three militant's attentions and made a motion with his chin to the small town that was just now visible, sitting beneath the cliff.

"Almost there," he said as he kept walking.

Sephiroth looked back down to Cloud, turned round, and bent his knees slightly, holding out his arms awkwardly.

Cloud tilted his head, dumbfounded in what he was doing.

"He's offering to carry you, dip-shit," said Zack with a chuckle as he pushed Cloud onto Sephiroth's back, where Sephiroth secured his hands around the underside of Cloud's thighs on either side of his waist.

Cloud stuttered a shy protest, but was quickly hushed by Sephiroth who looked over his shoulder and sent him a look that meant for him to calm down. Cloud, defeated, put his arms atop Sephiroth's shoulders loosely, careful not to touch the General's neck, and put his chin softly against his right shoulder, between his pauldron and his neck. His face was positively infernal in it's heat and color, but he dared not say a thing. However, silently, deeply hidden beneath his discomfort upon Sephiroth's back, he enjoyed being so close to him. Perhaps his underlying pleasure of being so close to the General was why he was so uncomfortable.

Sephiroth felt as if Cloud weighed absolutely nothing. The warmth that he felt from Cloud up against his back made him feel at ease, and just for a moment, a smile flickered across his face. Softly, he tightened his grip on Cloud's thighs, and began his pace slightly faster.

When they came upon the town, Cloud had recovered a fair amount of energy, and crowds of people were crowded around a small group of men standing atop a few wooden crates.

"Shinra is killing the planet! And for what -- so you all can live in luxury? How long do you think the luxury will last when the planet is dead? President Shinra is feeding off of the death of the planet, and even those who oppose him! Yes, that's right, we have proof that President Shinra has been assassinating innocent people who have been put under suspicion of being against his company!" shouted one man, his fists thrusting into the air angrily to accent his speech.

The crowds of people whispered amongst themselves as the man paused, and another began, "To stop what damage our own town has been doing, we have let loose powerful monsters into the mako reactor!"

The second man paused, waiting for applause, but none came. The crowd seemed afraid.

Tseng sighed, finally off of his phone, and motioned for Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud to begin towards the reactor. Apparently it was a peaceful resistance, and the only combat necessary would be at the reactor. He would take care of the rebels himself.

Like a knife through cooked meat, the two SOLDIERs and the Shinra grunt moved through the crowd, the people that composed it creating a path in awe.

More whispers broke out among the Gongagans, things like, "That's General _Sephiroth_!", or, "Shinra troops!"

The three men atop their crates froze, seeming to be paralyzed with fear, but, as the Shinra militants passed them by, they did not even glance at them.

"Shinra Electric Incorporated has evidence that you have attempted treason against the company. Charles James, William Buford, and Damien Baldwin, you are under arrest. Present yourselves for a weapons screening and please cooperate in your apprehension. As an agent of Shinra Electric Incorporated, I have the right to resort to violence. Any injuries you suffer during apprehension are not the responsibility of Shinra Electric Incorporated, and will not be treated, if fatal."

Tseng's voice rang clear like a bell through the collective silence that ensued the departure of the three Shinra troops. He issued the usual arrest briefing, and approached the three rebels, who stepped down from their crates, and began to take up boards and pipes, make-shift weapons.

Tseng sighed and drew a cleanly polished pistol from the inside of his jacket, firing once, the bullet ripping through the hand of one of the men. The other two, in a terrified reaction, dropped their weapons and knelt down, preparing to be frisked.

Tseng went about his business and escorted the three rebels to the helicopter where they would be taken to the Shinra Building in Midgar to have their cases presented to the President. They would most likely be executed.

The inside of the reactor was filled with approximately twenty-four kimara bugs, monsters that faintly resembled grasshoppers, save for their much larger size and equipped with two extra legs that ended with massive tooth-like spines. They buzzed around the reactor, making eerie clicking sounds, causing a cacophony-symphony.

Sephiroth made quick work of them, now that his bones and spine had healed from their probing on Hojo's behalf.

The preceding three days had been mostly city patrol for Cloud and training for Zack, and after their shifts, they would head straight for Sephiroth's apartment, where Zack would get one of the janitors he had befriended to let them in. Cloud would make dinner for the three of them, and they would sit in bed with Sephiroth and talk calmly, allowing him to work on his paperwork.

"So, Seph, you love Cloud yet?"

"Zack!" Cloud would snap offendedly.

Sephiroth would glare at him and resume his paperwork, taking a bite out of the food that Cloud had made him.

It had become routine now, and each time Cloud wished that there was something that he could do to shut up the lieutenant.

Presently, as Cloud watched the General fight, he was hypnotized. The utter grace of each of his feral movements was like a dance that changed partners with each kill that he accomplished. His long, silver hair shadowed each movement like a wake, and his sword moved with visible strength and fluency. Cloud admired the noble grace, marveling at its outright beauty.

When the they were finished, Sephiroth having killed 19 kimara bugs, Zack having killed five, and Cloud having killed none, they checked the area for any damage, concluding that minimal damage was done, and no repairs were necessary.

When the three came to the door of Zack's mother's home, Zack did not even have to knock. As soon as his knuckles came within a few inches of the door, it opened and his mother came running out, leaping onto her son and kissing his cheek vigorously over and over again.

"Oh, my baby! My little Zackary! Oh, I've missed you so much!" she said excitedly as she pulled away from her son and held his shoulder with one hand and tried to smooth out his hair with the other.

They looked almost identical. Both had the very same raven black hair and the same chin. Zack's mother's frame was small and fragile looking, and her figure thin. She wore a brown dress with a white apron tied around her waist, and her icy-gray eyes, untainted by the mako that had changed her son's eyes, were filled with the joy of seeing her boy.

"My, my... Zackary, you sure have grown up. I can remember changing your diapers and kissing your scrapes like it was yesterday..." she said, tears of happiness welling in her eyes.

Zack's eyes got wide and he laughed nervously, "Don't cry mom! And who said that I still don't want you to kiss my scrapes better?" he paused, looking to Sephiroth and Cloud, "Here! Meet General Sephiroth, and Private Cloud! They're pretty much my best friends. I would have brought Angeal... but he's in Wutai."

Zack's mother seemed to have just now noticed that two other men stood beside her son, and threw herself upon Cloud, then Sephiroth, giving them each maternal hugs. Cloud smiled and returned the hug graciously, and Sephiroth merely stood there, unsure of what to do.

"I'm Victoria Fair, but you can call me Mom," she said, smiling widely.

Sephiroth felt the need to ask why he would address someone who had not birthed him by 'mom', but refrained, for he felt that it would create a situation where his inquiry could be misconstrued for rude.

Cloud bowed and said politely, "We've heard great things about your cooking, Miss Fair."

"Call me Mom! And I'm sure whatever Zack has told you was true -- I cook the best meat stew this side of the Gold Saucer. Please, boys, come in!" she said, holding out an arm to invite them all into her humble home.

The interior was modest, a stove, a small sofa, two futons rolled out upon the floor for Cloud and Sephiroth to sleep on, and a round table with four chairs set around it. There were three doors that lead to what one could only assume was the lavatory, Victoria's own bedroom, and Zack's childhood bedroom. Sephiroth looked around the room, taking in the image of "Home". He was almost interested in experiencing what family was really like, even if it was only observing interactions between Zack and his mother.

"I'm sorry the place is such a mess... I hope the stew can make up for it!" she laughed while she slipped on a pair of oven-mits and took a steaming pot off of the stove and began to pour portions of it's contents into bowls. She then set the bowls down upon the table, placing a large loaf of bread in the center of the circle of bowls.

When the four of them sat down, and it was time to eat, Sephiroth hesitated. There was meat in the stew. Each little bit of what appeared to be beef that intermingled with the beans and onions and carrots in the dish seemed positively revolting to him, and yet he had no desire to offend.

Zack and his mother seemed distracted talking about his escapades as a SOLDIER.

"I stole a whole table, two chairs, and a table-cloth from a cafe once with Cloud! It was for a date of his..." Zack said proudly.

"Stole? Zackary Fair, I didn't raise a thief!"

"We put them back! It was more...borrowing...than stealing."

Cloud looked modestly to Sephiroth and, blushingly, smiled. He was eased by the fact that he was not the only one who appeared to be uncomfortable sitting at the table.

"Are you all right, sir?" asked Cloud.

He was grateful that in the past few days, cooking for Sephiroth nightly and doing his best to make sure that he was comfortable and had everything he needed, the result was that Cloud was much more able to be in the man's presence without stuttering or becoming paralyzed.

Sephiroth glanced up to Zack's mother, and then down to the meat floating in his stew.

Cloud laughed softly under his breath, "It would be polite to eat it."

Sephiroth took up a spoon and began to eat slowly, cautiously, dodging the chunks of meat as he went.

"So! The one and only General Sephiroth, here at my own table! How about that. Tell me, Sephiroth, how do you like being the most famous man in the world?" asked Zack's mother abruptly, moving away from a private conversation with her son.

Sephiroth swallowed his mouthful and replied in what seemed to be a prerecorded tone, "It is a pleasure to be such an asset to such an esteemed company as Shinra Electric Incorporated."

Victoria laughed and said, "Such an articulate boy you are. Zack, you should take a lesson from this young man."

Zack laughed good-naturedly and shrugged it off.

"And you, Cloud? How are you liking Shinra?"

"I love it... even though the fighting is hard, and the possibility of being sent to Wutai is a little scary. I would still go, though. I joined the Shinra Military to help in the fight... just like Sephiroth..." Cloud ended with a shy glance and a redness in his face.

"And how old are you boys?"

"I am 23 years of age," answered Sephiroth mechanically, as if answering one of his physicians.

"I'm... only 16, ma'am."

Sephiroth was astounded that Cloud had managed to get into the military at such a young age.

"Only 16? What are you doing in the military? You're far too young for service!" Zack's mother exclaimed, giving voice to Sephiroth's own question.

Cloud laughed and began to scratch at the back of his neck nervously.

"I lied on my application -- I really wanted to join before the war was over..."

Zack laughed nervously along with Cloud, and Victoria shook her head in disappointment.

"At least one of your three doesn't lie or steal," joked Victoria, sending a warm smile to Sephiroth, who looked up from his bowl and forced a smile that he seemed to have trained himself to show, "You really are a fit Shinra mentor, aren't you?"

Cloud marveled at the smile, for it was so different from all of the other times that he had seen him smile. Somehow, after seeing sincere grins on the General's behalf, his business smile seemed so phony that it was almost hard to understand why Zack's mother did not see through it.

When polite conversation and the stew were finished, Victoria stood and, smiling warmly, announced that there was desert.

Zack was antsy in his chair, excited for what was to come, but not daring to rush his mother, for he knew that she would scold him for it.

When she returned to the table, she held in one hand an angel food cake, and in the other, stacked plates and silver. She arranged the plates and silver accordingly and allowed the men to self-serve.

Zack, of course, took a large slice and began to shovel the cake into his mouth, making sounds of how good it was and giving his mother a thumbs up. Cloud, politely, took a small piece and ate it modestly, thanking Victoria for the food and board. Sephiroth, however, politely declined and merely sat quietly, listening to the conversation as if observing an alien species.

It seemed that family operated in a manner of friendship and affection balanced with respect. Zack would tell his mother of his episodes, and his mother would scold him for his dishonorable conduct, but still hold him in high esteem. Sephiroth came to the conclusion that family was built upon very, very high amounts of patience, making the comparison of his relationship with Zack and that between an older brother and a younger brother all the more apt.

When the time grew late, Victoria stood up from the table, collected the dishes and began to wash them in the sink beside the stove.

"Zackary, it's been your turn to do the dishes for five years! Come over here and help your mother," she said over her shoulder.

Zack blushed and looked embarrassed said, "I'm a mama's boy, what can I say?" before rushing to do his mother's bidding.

Cloud and Sephiroth stood, moving over to their futons, Cloud plopping down onto it and yawning before sitting upright and smiling his childlike smile up to Sephiroth, who faced away from him. With a few small clicks, Sephiroth's pauldrons slid off of his shoulders and he set them to the side of his futon, along with his newly removed gloves. Respectfully, the three of them had left their weapons by the door upon entering.

Zack and his mother finished up and put the dishes away.

"Time for bed! I'll see you boys in the morning. Sleep well," said Zack's mother as she pushed Zack into his room and bowed to Sephiroth and Cloud.

When she closed her door, the only remaining sound was that of one last click as Sephiroth slid off his coat and laid it over his pauldrons and gloves, beside where Cloud had recently tossed his own armor.

The only light in the room was coming from a few candles near to the futons that Zack's mother had neglected to blow out.

The interior of Victoria's home betrayed her to be poor. The construction of the two bedrooms and bathroom seemed apparent to be add-ons that Sephiroth assumed had been built by Zack's father before he left to join Shinra's army, where he later died in service. The stove was of bad production, and the sink was a porcelain-imitation.

As Sephiroth came to sit upon his futon, it came to his attention that Cloud was staring at his bare torso, his cheeks flamingly colored. He tilted his head in question as he looked upon the blonde.

Cloud could not find the will to move his gaze, the perfection of Sephiroth's chiseled form mesmerizing. He had the desire to reach out and touch him, but would never dare. When the expression upon Sephiroth's face came apparent, Cloud's eyes widened and he suddenly found the ability to direct them downwards. He could feel his ears heating up.

"S...sorry, sir..." he mumbled.

Sephiroth looked away and laid back, pulling his blanket up over his body, laying on his back. His eyes closed slowly.

Cloud brought his knees up to his chest and put his forehead to them, taking a moment to recover before blowing out the candles and exposing the room to total darkness.

As the night progressed, Cloud could not find sleep. He was simply not tired in the least, and the longer he laid there, the colder the room seemed to get. Zack's mother could not afford a heating system.

Cloud soon found himself thinking about the General's exposed torso. He hoped that he would not be cold... although Cloud could think of a few ways to warm him up.

Cloud shook his head, dispelling the lascivious thoughts that made his face redden. He felt slightly wrong for ever thinking of the subject. However, he still rolled over onto his side so that he could look upon the sleeping SOLDIER. He smiled lightly at how at peace he looked. Cloud rolled onto his opposite side and slowly, could feel himself falling asunder to sleep.

Some hours later, Cloud opened his eyes, a strange warmth against his back. The lighting in the room told that it was still nighttime, although he had no idea what the hour was.

There was an object resting on his side, and it was also warm. Cloud looked down, his eyes only barely seeing through the darkness. It was a bare arm. The General's arm.

Cloud stirred gently, slightly alarmed.

"S...Sephiroth...?" he whispered.

Sephiroth responded with a half-asleep grunt.

"What.... What are you doing, sir?"

Cloud could feel Sephiroth's chin against the back of his shoulder as he replied, "You were shivering."

Cloud could feel a lump in his throat and heat in his cheeks.

"Would you prefer my blanket instead?" Sephiroth asked softly, his voice laced with sleep, his eyes closed as he was huddled close to Cloud.

Cloud could feel himself begin to tremble.

"...No...." he whispered back, barely audible.

They were silent for a long while, but Cloud could not stand the question that buzzed about his mind like an angry hornet.

"...Sephiroth....?" he whispered once more.

Sephiroth made a throaty "hmm?" sound. He knew what was coming.

In fact, the only reason why Sephiroth had not fallen asleep yet was because he was deep in thought about Cloud.

He had been laying in the darkness, his eyes closed, wondering what love felt like. So many questions and uncertainties flowed into his mind, things like how he was supposed to know if he was in love, or, if love was the case, how he was meant to show it. He wished that he could just have someone tell him what he felt and how to express it. He had never had to feel anything on his own before -- it had always been under the instruction of a Shinra official. "The situation in Wutai has worsened. This is entirely angering," or, "How sad, one of our officials has just died."

He cursed his numbness as he had looked at the shivering cadet mere inches away from him. He pondered on what to do.

Cloud was kind and caring, something that Sephiroth could never remember experiencing. Every night that Cloud had made dinner for him was a night that he felt a little more fond of the boy. He thought of Cloud's blushing cheeks, and tear-filled eyes. He thought of his innocent smile, and the face of concern that he wore when he asked Sephiroth to bring him to Wutai after the war. Of course he would.

Slowly, he had inched closer to Cloud, putting an arm over his midsection, and his chin against his shoulder. Their contact caused him to smile and question his inability to love. Perhaps he did feel some sort of affection for the young man. But then again, how was he supposed to pick up on all of the social subtleties? How was he to deliver what Cloud needed? Allowing something to develop would simply be setting Cloud up for disappointment. Sephiroth was unfit for him.

"Have you..." Cloud could not think of a way to word the ending of his question that would sound the way that he wanted it to.

Sephiroth sighed deeply and slid his other arm easily underneath Cloud's thinly toned body, and held him close.

"Not yet."

Cloud seemed to slump slightly, "Oh..." he said sadly.

Sephiroth loosened his hold.

"I am not adequate for intimacy, Cloud. I am incapable of the understandings that one needs to be intimate with another," he said absolutely.

Cloud's eyes widened and he turned to lay on the opposite side, facing the muscular man who held him, giving him warmth.

"That's not true," Cloud said softly, wrapping his arms around the General in return.

The gesture made Sephiroth deeply uncomfortable with how misleading he had apparently been towards Cloud by trying to warm him. He simply wished for Cloud not to have to be cold so that he could rest well. He didn't want him tripping again on the cliff because he was tired.

"What you are asking of me is unrealistic."

Cloud froze for a moment. He drew back his arms and rolled back over.

"I'm...sorry.. to have bothered you..." his voice was shaky and stuttering, betraying that he was hurt.

Sephiroth sighed once more in his own despair as Cloud began to inch out of his grasp. Somehow, making Cloud aware of his inadequacy made him feel just as guilty as he assumed it would feel to have not made him aware at all.

Just before Cloud had gotten out of Sephiroth's gentle hold, he pulled him back, quickly and with ease. He held him tightly, causing Cloud's face to morph to a blushing surprise.

"Fine...You may have what you wish of me," Sephiroth said in despair into Cloud's ear, pausing for a long while in Cloud's astounded silence, "But please... be patient with...my social incompetence. I do not wish to hurt you."

Cloud turned his head to look over his shoulder, for the tightness of Sephiroth's hold made it impossible for him to turn to face him for a third time. Their faces were close, almost touching, and Cloud could feel the warmth of Sephiroth's breath upon his face. Slowly, he began to reach up to touch the General's face, but Sephiroth grasped Cloud's wrists before they could travel very far.

Sephiroth's eyes became half-closed at the sight of Cloud tight against his chest, and, without a single preceding thought or one-sided mental debate, he gently pressed his lips against Cloud's own. Through narrow openings, Sephiroth could see Cloud's eyes close and his expression relax into one of pure rapture. The sight of bringing him such happiness filled Sephiroth with what he assumed to be joy, replacing the awkward agony of submitting to the possibility of letting Cloud down through his social idiocy.

Sephiroth's mind went silent for the first time in his life.

Cloud struggled to face him, and was obliged as Sephiroth released his hold on his wrists and loosened his embrace. Upon coming to face him, Cloud was able to return the embrace and the kiss.

Gently, as if asking permission, Cloud touched his tongue to Sephiroth's lip, which seemed to gladly grant it permission as Sephiroth kissed him more passionately, his hands coming to cup Cloud's cheeks.

Cloud had never tasted anything so divine. It was exactly what it had been in his dreams of late, and yet more. Sephiroth's tongue, passive to his own, seemed to be learning what to do as the kiss lengthened, progressively becoming more and more inviting.

Suddenly, without warning, Sephiroth pulled away gently and looked into Cloud's just-opening eyes with such affection as he had never seen before.

"This is improper in the home of another, I assume," he said softly, his voice not of black stone as it always had been, but rather of white feathers.

Cloud merely responded by putting his head to Sephiroth's chest and inching in even closer. Sephiroth chuckled deeply and rolled onto his back, allowing Cloud to use him as a sort of pillow.

Cloud listened contentedly to the even beating of his love's heart, his hands resting comfortably upon his chest. Suddenly, the cold was gone, and all that could be felt was the warmth of Sephiroth's arms around him.

"General?"

Sephiroth made another throaty "hmm?" sound.

"I love you, sir."

Sephiroth merely smiled in response and laid a hand on Cloud's head.

That night, the two fell asleep in each other's arms, the taste of each other's lips lingering sweetly in their dreams.

When the sun peaked over the eves on Zack's mother's windows, Cloud opened a groggy eye. He had no trouble whatsoever remembering the night before, for it had been what he had dreamed about. He shifted his gaze to the nearest window, and then down to Sephiroth's naked torso. Slowly and softly, he began to run his fingers over his smooth flesh.

The creaking of a door opening sounded throughout the room, and footsteps soon ensued. Cloud quickly sat up, disconnecting from the much-wanted contact with Sephiroth.

Zack's mother peered down at him from the kitchen-area as she drank a glass of water.

The abrupt movement woke Sephiroth, causing him to sit up rapidly, his expression threatening, his usual reaction to being awakened. Cloud laid a hand on his shoulder, letting him know that he was all right.

Sephiroth looked to Cloud, breathing heavily as his hand grasped at Cloud's wrist before melting into half-asleepness as he became aware of his surroundings. He yawned widely and shifted his gaze to Victoria who now stood holding her glass of water, smiling wide.

"You two are cute together," she said sweetly as she mad her way to the table to sit and look out of the kitchen window.

Soon, Zack was emerging from his bedroom as well, yawning loudly and stretching, already in his armor.

"Mornin', girls!" he said to Sephiroth and Cloud before moving over to his mother, hugging her from behind, and sitting down and saying, "Mornin', mom."

When the time came for the three of them to set out from Gongaga, Zack hugged and kissed his mother, telling her that he would come back to visit soon. A tearful goodbye was given by Zack's mother, and then they were off.

As soon as the three had gone well past the limits of the town, Zack looked over to Sephiroth with a vindictive facial expression, his hands interlocked behind his neck.

"So, you guys officially gay yet, or what?" he asked.

Cloud blushed and looked up to Sephiroth, who returned the look. They both silently wondered on whether or not to tell him.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Zack shouted, excited as he had ever been, "Aww, guys! That's kickass! Can I write out the wedding invites?!"

Sephiroth sighed, gauging his patience for Zack, causing Cloud to blush furiously and look to the ground.

"I wonder which one of you would wear the wedding dress -- oh, no, that would definitely be Cloud!" Zack said, ending in an outburst of laughter.


	7. Chapter 7

Cloud was gasping for breath in the darkness, his lips hungry against those of his mentor and lover. Distantly, he could feel his hands moving over taut muscle and alabaster skin that was hot to the touch and fully exposed. The ends of Sephiroth's long mercury hair tickled gently at Cloud's shoulders and bare chest, causing him to moan softly into Sephiroth's mouth, a coax that resulted in a deep chuckle and a more aggressive approach on his behalf.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound coming from the edge of the darkness. It sounded like a voice, but oh so far away.

Sephiroth did not falter in his aggressive way of touching Cloud's every inch, his mouth moving roughly against the blonde's lips. Although, Cloud paused for a moment. Once again, the voice sounded, this time louder. This time, it was readable.

"Wet dream, eh Private Porky?"

Cloud resistantly opened his eyes, reality biting him like a wutain behemoth. He became painfully aware that he had been sucking on his pillow, and covered in a cold sweat. He released the pillow with much haste and his face was already an inferno. He looked up to who had awoken him.

Zack stood beside his bunk, looking down at him with a mischievous grin, bent over with his hands clasped upon the edge of the above bunk.

"I said..." he began at an average volume, and resumed with a volume just loud enough to shake the very barracks in which they were, "Having a wet dream?!"

Surrounding cadets glanced over to the sweaty teen in his bed, tossing whispers back and forth and chuckling before resuming their morning activities.

Zack laughed hysterically, plopping down on the bed beside Cloud, who laid back down and covered his embarrassed face with his moist pillow, groaning in his discontent.

"Oh, what? You honestly thought that I was just gonna leave you there, moaning and sucking on that pillow whispering Seph's name? God... that was priceless! I knew from the very moment that I met you that you were head over heels for the lug!" Zack laughed, pulling Cloud's pillow away and rolling off the bed.

Cloud rolled over onto his front and groaned again, putting his hands over his ears. He had picked a bad night to sleep in only his boxers.

"Sir..." Cloud whined, trying to silence the beast of a lieutenant.

Zack merely laughed once more and pulled off the young cadet's blanket.

Cloud, in reaction to the pulling of his blanket, shot out of bed and quickly began to take out a clean uniform from beneath his bed and don his pants.

Zack inched over to him, his evil grin still painted across his face as he kneeled down beside Cloud.

"Is that _morning wood_, Spiky?" he asked, clearly holding back fistfuls of laughter.

Cloud turned away and slid the shirt of the uniform over his head and began to secure his belt and suspenders that held up his pauldrons.

"Spiiiiiikyyyyy!" Zack persisted, tugging on Cloud's pants with excitement.

"I don't... know what you're talking about!" Cloud shot back, pulling on his gloves before sitting down on his sweaty mattress and slipping on some socks.

Zack giggled ferociously and hugged Cloud around the waist from behind.

"Cloud's got morning wood!"

"Shh!"

Cloud, once having gotten hastily dressed in his uniform, looked up to the digital clock that hung on the wall beside some miscellaneous militant's bed, beside a poster of a woman in a bathing suit. Today was his day off, compliments of being best friends with his platoon's Lieutenant. The reason?

Today was the day that Sephiroth returned from Wutai.

For the past few months, Sephiroth had been sent to fight with the other two SOLDIER Generals, Angeal Hewley and Genesis Rhapsodos, on the front. Cloud had worried endlessly -- knowing that there was a shortage in supplies due to Scarlet's evil-doing. What if he had gotten hurt and there was not adequate medical equipment to treat him?

However, recent news said that he was unscathed, as Zack had foretold many a time, and was to return. Cloud had received the news three weeks before Sephiroth's date of arrival, and had been checking off the days on his mental calendar.

As he shrugged off Zack and began at a quick pace down the halls of the Shinra building, Cloud recalled the day that Sephiroth left.

Zack, Cloud, and Sephiroth had been standing idly in Sephiroth's kitchen one morning before any of them had a shift of training or the like, and the crisp morning sun blazed in through the large window in the main room of his apartment.

The air smelled like soap and steam, for Sephiroth had just emerged from the shower, and was sipping casually on a cup of tea that he had made for himself. He had offered Cloud and Zack cups, but Cloud declined on account for liking sweeter things, and Zack declined on account of "Are you kidding? That shit's nasty!"

No one really said anything. Cloud assumed presently that it was because Zack already knew.

Finally, Cloud smiled shyly and, leaning against the counter, asked what everyone's shifts were today, making conversation.

Zack answered first, glancing at Sephiroth before he spoke, "I've got a mission out in Costa Del Sol -- something about a Wutai bomb threat and trains."

Cloud nodded, confident that the bursting collection of energy that was Zackary Fair could handle it, and said, "Sounds like something you would enjoy," he paused, "What about you, sir?"

Sephiroth brought his cup up to his lips, took a sip, and then looked down into the steaming liquid, answering soberly, "I am to be sent to the front at Wutai today."

The way that he had said it was as if he were making a comment on the weather -- "Oh, it's overcast" dangerously close to "I have to go to war today".

Cloud had frozen up, his eyes looking down to his boots upon the cold linoleum floor. What if Sephiroth died?

He could think of nothing to say as Sephiroth looked upon the clock on the wall and placed his cup down beside the sink, announcing that he was due for a helicopter in ten minutes and still had some getting ready to do. He left Cloud standing like ice beside Zack in the kitchen, walking easily into his bedroom where he stuffed clothing into a bag and took the Masamune up from the display shelf at which it was placed when not in use.

"You may stay here, if you wish, in my absence," he said upon exiting his bedroom.

Sephiroth passed them by on his way to the door and, without a goodbye, left them alone in his apartment.

Zack had sighed at long length and took Cloud up into his arms.

Cloud could barely breath. It was as if Sephiroth had simply strode up to him and struck him with the pommel of his sword. His blue eyes were pinned wide.

"Cloud... I wont have you crying on me, now," Zack said, an attempt at cheering the young blonde, "Just when I thought your balls had descended -- "

Cloud shook his head, not returning the embrace.

"Please, Zack."

Zack sighed again, tightening his comforting hold.

"Sorry."

Cloud forced ragged breaths to enter his lungs.

"What if... he..."

"Spike! This is freakin Seph we're talking about! Do you even know what kind of crazy shit this guy has survived? I doubt he can bleed. I mean, Jesus, the dude moves so fast even us SOLDIERs can barely see him!"

Cloud felt air release itself from his chest, and he felt slightly better. Zack was right. The only times where he had seen Sephiroth fight, it was an amazing sight. Mere Wutains had no chance against the Silver Elite. The Demon of Wutai. General Sephiroth, SOLDIER First Class.

Presently, however, his breath was tight and be drawn in quickly. Regardless of Zack's countless assurances, Cloud was sure that he would find Sephiroth in the terrifying state of pain that he was in when Hojo had done his sick tests on him a while back. Cloud sometimes dreamed of the look on Sephiroth's face as he fell to his knees in agony. It made him angry -- but most of all, it filled him with horror.

The elevator doors opened as they issued a polite little sound and in stepped Cloud and Zack. Zack was babbling about the dream he had the night before, something about Hojo being eaten by a giant red octopus-lobster-fusion and how he couldn't light a match underwater. Cloud's mind was elsewhere.

"Why, hello there. You're Private Strife, are you not?" asked a voice from the corner of the elevator.

Cloud turned round, a question on his face as he regarded the woman behind him.

Her long blond hair was pulled up in the back and cascading down to her shoulder on one side to frame her doll-like face. She wore a red dress that amply revealed her long, slender legs, and held a cigarette between her first two fingers on her right hand while she played at her collarbone with her left.

It was Director Scarlet of Shinra Weapons Development.

Cloud straightened, his hatred for the woman inherently readable on his face, for he was, of course, terrible at putting up facades.

"I am, Director," he answered.

Zack looked like he was about to start selling tickets for the encounter. His facial expression was a mixture between "Damn she's fine!" and "Punch that whore in the mouth!"

Scarlet laughed languidly, and reached out to take Cloud's chin between her index finger and her thumb, the heat of the cigarette that was in the very same hand radiating onto Cloud's neck.

"Word around the office is that you have been visiting Sephiroth rather frequently."

Cloud glared at her, "I have. But so has Zack."

Scarlet drew her face close to Cloud's and smirked.

"Yes, well, everyone knows Fair is a ladies man. You, however..." she trailed off, her point well-recieved.

Zack smiled at the compliment.

"Director, I would appreciate it if you would leave the General alone," Cloud said bravely, his glare still full of hateful vigor.

Scarlet laughed vindictively, releasing Cloud's chin and sucking on her cigarette. She blew a cloud of smoke directly into Cloud's face, smiling as she finished.

"Oh, would you now? I don't know who you think you are, grunt, but I've got your precious General right under my thumb. I could very well command him to never speak to you again."

Cloud lunged at her, his anger like a cyclone ripping through his vocal cords and creating a sort of battle-cry. However, much to his own fortune, Zack caught him before he could make contact with Scarlet.

"Leave us alone! What have we ever done to you?!" Zack shouted angrily.

Just then, it was their floor, and the doors opened with their polite little sound. Scarlet smirked once more and waved mockingly as Zack had to haul the struggling Cloud off of the elevator.

"God damn you!" Cloud shouted as the elevator doors closed, causing many a passing executive to look at him questioningly.

Zack pressed a hand against the private's mouth before propping him up against a wall, holding him there by his wrists until Cloud could finally settle down.

"I hate her so much, Zack..." Cloud whispered, out of breath from writhing against the wall, trying to escape from Zack's iron grip.

Zack laughed and nodded meekly.

"I do too, man. Now come on. Lover boy should be in his apartment as we speak. Are you really gonna let that STD-goodiebag get to you on a day like today?"

Cloud laughed lightly at how Zack had referred to Scarlet as an STD-goodiebag and resolved to let it go for the time being. Today would be a good day.

"I'll be good," Cloud said as Zack released him.

Just a few more feet down the hall was Sephiroth's apartment, and Zack knocked just as he usually did -- with his voice rather than his fist.

"Oi, Seph! I brought booze and hookers!"

Cloud slapped his palm to his face, and shook his head as his cheeks turned red. He wondered if he was the booze or the hooker.

There was the faint hint of footsteps on the other side of the door, and it opened. Sephiroth looked calmly upon Zack and Cloud before making a motion with his chin to invite them in as he made his way back towards his bedroom.

Cloud was no longer excited to see him, now that the moment was upon him. Now, he simply felt strangely uncomfortable -- as if he shouldn't be there.

Zack came running in, sprinting past Sephiroth and leaping onto his bed, where he rolled about the blankets and pillows, as if returning home after a long stay elsewhere.

Sephiroth entered the bedroom shortly after Zack, and resumed to pull out the contents of the bag that he had packed, pulling out more books than anything. From what Cloud could see when he entered the room behind the other two and stood awkwardly in the doorway, most of them were books of strategy and other military manuals.

As Cloud continued to stand in the doorway while Zack began to interrogate the General about his stay in Wutai, he could feel his cheeks turn a light pink, his eyes downcast. He certainly was glad that Sephiroth was back. He smiled lightly and looked up to the handsome man that raked his fingers through his long silver hair at the scalp and answered one question after another stoically.

"How many were there? How many more than Angeal did you kill?" Zack asked, rapid-fire.

Sephiroth took a moment to ponder on the numbers and pulled out the final book and a pair of leather pants from his bag, putting them away in their specific places in his drawers and shelves.

"The last battle I fought in, there was a total body-count of over 1600. I expect that I was responsible for 900 deaths, and Angeal approximately 700," answered Sephiroth obediently, looking over his shoulder as he kneeled before his drawers.

Zack whistled and began laughing cockily.

"Let me guess... he gave you his 'Dreams and Honor' speech right after?"

Sephiroth nodded fondly as he rose and made his way gradually to the doorway where Cloud stood.

Cloud looked up to the taller man and was speechless as his eyes were taken in by perfect emeralds nestled in the carved face of an angel.

"I can only assume that you were worried about my well-being. My apologies for not writing, for it would have disclosed my location," he said, putting a hand on Cloud's head.

Any awkward sort of discomfort with Sephiroth that had resulted from the whole Wutai-mission that was previously present, melted away as his hand gently rested upon Cloud's head, his fingers weaving with the soft blonde spikes.

"I was...pretty worried..." Cloud admitted, smiling sheepishly.

Sephiroth's mouth did its odd sort if flicker of a smile, and he chuckled quietly.

Zack was sitting on the bed, his expression the same as an emotional female watching a romance movie. His lower lip quivered as his eyes went large and he looked as if he were about to exclaim, "Aww!"

Cloud threw his arms around Sephiroth's midsection and held on tight, the side of his face pressed against his superior's chest. He could hear the General's heart beat slightly faster, and he beamed at the sound.

Sephiroth was caught off guard for a moment, but after a short while of being clung to, he slowly put his arms around Cloud's neck and rested his cheek against the top of the blonde's head.

"Next time... say goodbye?" Cloud whispered.

"My apologies. I did not think that it was necessary, for I knew I was to return."

Cloud laughed, and tightened his embrace.

Zack could hold it back no longer.

"God damn! You two are adorable!" he cooed before jumping up and, with a bit of a running start, joined in on the hug.

Sephiroth looked slightly displeased with the intimate moment ruined by Zack, but allowed the Lieutenant to bask in the hug for a moment before pulling away.

"According to your shift-schedule, you should be on morning patrol, should you not?" asked Sephiroth to Cloud as he moved towards the main room.

Cloud grinned broadly.

"Zack gave me the day off because today was the day that you got back."

Sephiroth chuckled once more.

Cloud had not seen him emote so much, discounting their first kiss, since he joined Shinra. It was obvious, regardless of how subtle his expressions were, that he was happy to be home.

"I bet you they're serving lunch in the cafeteria right about now!" Zack put in.

Sephiroth looked a little put out, "There is food here."

Cloud scurried after Sephiroth as he moved about his home, straightening things that Zack had disheveled in his absence. He was such a neat-freak.

"We might as well go out and spend the day together, since none of us have shifts today," put forth Zack as he collapsed upon the sofa.

Sephiroth sighed, never liking the idea of the hellhole that was the SOLDIER floor cafeteria before agreeing defeatedly.

When they arrived in the cafeteria, they received trays full of generic foods that basically covered all of the required food groups, but never tasted quite right. Zack, however, loved it.

They came to sit at their usual table, where Biggs, Wedge, and several of Zack's platoon members sat, scooting over slightly to allow Sephiroth room where he sat straight and occupied himself with looking out the long window on the eastern wall.

When more and more of the usuals came to sit down at the table, they all seemed to fall silent as they realized that they were in the presence of General Sephiroth. They seemed to stiffen at the mere sight of him.

Biggs finally worked up the motive to speak.

"So, Cloud, I hear that you wont be on patrol today?"

Cloud shook his head and swallowed his mouthful.

"I've been given the day off."

Zack giggled under his breath, knowing the favoritism involved in the matter.

Suddenly, Sephiroth's phone began to ring. He stood, excusing himself and moving out of the cafeteria to take the call.

It was then that Cloud began to receive his humiliation for the morning's events.

"So, Cloud," began one of his platoon-mates, "what were you dreaming about?"

The group laughed for a moment and then tuned in to what Cloud's answer would be. However Cloud merely sat there, looking into his food and blushing.

"It's kind of personal..."

The group burst out into laughter once more.

"Dude. You are such a girl. Tell us!"

Zack chimed in, "Yeah, Susan, tell us!"

Another moment of group-wide laughter.

Cloud scratched the back of his neck, and his face worsened in it's shade. He couldn't think of a way to respectfully decline at this point. They were going to force the information out of him, or he would be ridiculed. He sighed at length and resolved to lie.

"I don't remember what I dreamed about, actually."

Zack made a loud "pfft" sound and opened his mouth to say something, however, before he could form words, a deep voice sounded from behind them.

"Hey, Strife. Still the most pathetic warrior at Shinra?" asked a smug, helmeted SOLDIER third class.

Cloud looked over his shoulder to the SOLDIER and his eyes widened. What had he ever done to anger him?

"Word around the SOLDIER floor is that you have something against Director Scarlet. Not a smart thing to go spreading around," said the SOLDIER as he reached out and gripped at Cloud's collar, lifting him a short ways off the floor.

Cloud looked up at the SOLDIER, paralyzed with fear. What if Scarlet had sent him to assassinate him? It was entirely possible. His toes reached at the floor, to no avail, and his hands reached up to pull at the hand that held his collar.

Zack stood up to defend his friend, but, once again, his opportunity at speech was taken.

"You will release Private Strife immediately, or be expelled from SOLDIER."

Cloud focused on the figure who stood behind the third class SOLDIER. It was Sephiroth.

The Third Class, however, did not turn around, but rather merely laughed and replied, "Yeah? Looks like you'll have to make me."

It was obvious that the Third Class did not know who stood behind him.

Sephiroth sighed and put a hand on the Third Class's shoulder, causing him to begin to turn his head, but before he could focus on the General, a loud crack came from his shoulder, underneath Sephiroth's gloved hand.

The SOLDIER fell to the floor, crying out in pain.

"I recommend that you see yourself to the infirmary. Your clavicle is shattered and your scapula is split," said Sephiroth as the Third Class finally realized who he was, "If I should find you commencing in disorderly conduct a second time, you will be expelled from SOLDIER."

Two of the Third Class's friend ran up and hauled him away to the infirmary, apologizing vigorously to the General.

The cafeteria went silent and it was apparent that Sephiroth deeply wanted to exit the room.

Cloud had fallen to his knees upon being released by the nameless Third Class, and was looking up at Sephiroth with wide eyes and a large smile.

"...Th...Thank you, sir," he said softly in the silence.

Suddenly, like an explosion, the group of Cloud's platoon-mates erupted into applause.

"Nice one, General!"

"That was kickass!"

Sephiroth looked upon the group of cheering men with a stare that meant that he did not understand what was happening, causing Zack to stand and help Cloud up to his feet.

"And with that, we must leave! Please send fan-mail to 1234 Go Fuck Yourself Street!" Zack said with a laugh, spurring louder applause and laughter among the table as the rest of the cafeteria began to join in on the applause.

The three quickly left the cafeteria, stopping just outside the door so that Zack could laugh extensively and Cloud could catch his breath from the encounter.

As Cloud came to lean against the wall, Sephiroth drew near to him. He reached out slowly and took his chin between his thumb and forefinger, directing Cloud's blushing countenance upwards.

"Seph...iroth...?"

"Did that dullard injure you?" he asked, inspecting Cloud's neck for marks.

Cloud made a sound that answered on the negatory.

Sephiroth released the teen's chin and turned away.

"Good."

Cloud smiled widely, feeling the desire to embrace the General, but would never dare due to their location.

"I think I'll leave you two alone for the day, actually. I've got myself a date," said Zack with his perverted grin upon his face.

Sephiroth looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"It is considered prostitution if you pay the woman -- which is against Shinra law and SOLDIER code of conduct," he said soberly.

Zack took a few minutes to fall the ground in laughter, regardless of how Sephiroth was not making a joke.

"I'm not paying her, you dick!" he said, tears of laughter in his eyes, "Gimme a break!"

Sephiroth sighed and leaned against the wall beside Cloud.

"Right, well, I'm off. Have fun, you two. Oh," he paused with his evil grin that meant that the proceeding speech would be disclosing embarrassing information regarding Cloud, "Play nice. I hear Cloud's a virgin."

Zack walked off, laughing and holding his stomach, leaving the cadet and the General alone in the hall together.

Cloud's face, ears, and neck were aflame with color, his embarrassment too much for words.

Sephiroth merely smiled.

"...How can you smile at that?" asked Cloud, pouting and humiliated.

Sephiroth turned away and began down the hallway.

"I believe the proper adjective would be 'cute'," he said stoically.

Cloud skittered on after the General, his face, neck, and ears worsening.

"Where are we going...?" asked Cloud at long last of them weaving through halls.

Sephiroth looked over his shoulder, "I would like to train you. It has come to my attention that your combat skills are minimal, at best."

Cloud stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes went wide.

"You'll kill me!"

The General raised a brow as he looked back.

"I will not cause any physical harm, you have my word."

Cloud hesitated.

"You have my word, Cloud," repeated Sephiroth.

And yet, the cadet was still frozen in his tracks.

"Fear is illogical in this situation," said the General as he reached back to grab Cloud's hand and pull him along with him.

Cloud stumbled after his superior, unable to speak, and utterly dumbfounded.

When the doors to the only available training room opened, Cloud felt as if he were stepping into the land of the dead.

The operator on the other side of the glass wall of the simulation deck looked unto Sephiroth, then Cloud, taking a double-take at Sephiroth before sounding in on the intercom.

"Good afternoon, General. Please select your simulation."

"Wutai. Please supply weapons, as we have not come equipped."

"Monsters, sir?"

"None. I am training Private Strife."

The operator took a moment to process the out of the ordinary response and began hesitantly clicking away at the buttons on his operation panel.

Pixels dripped down from the ceiling until the two of them stood alone in a Wutain grassland. Sephiroth suddenly had the Masamune in hand, and Cloud could feel the weight of his own sword upon his back.

"Draw your weapon, Cloud."

Hesitantly, Cloud obeyed, swallowing hard in fear.

Sephiroth took three steps forward, standing about five feet away from Cloud.

"Are you prepared?"

Cloud made a weak sort of nod, and Sephiroth darted to the left, swinging the Masamune from the right using his right hand. He figured that he would not use his dominant hand, to give Cloud a slightly higher chance of success.

Cloud, noticing that Sephiroth was moving at a speed that was clearly much below his full potential, drew up his sword to block the blow with the flat of the blade. The block, however, nearly knocked him to the ground, and caused a painful vibration of force through both of his arms.

Sephiroth did not miss a moment's opportunity, passing the Masamune behind his back, switching hands, and jumping back as he did so before unleashing another horizontal strike.

Cloud, acting on pure instinct, dropped to the ground, the blow missing him by mere seconds.

Sephiroth paused, his demeanor eroding into something that Cloud had never seen before, and commanded him, "Fight back, Cloud."

The cadet took a moment before he rose and made himself sturdy. He took a few moments to catch his breath before nodding his head and running at Sephiroth, swinging his blade vertically.

Sephiroth smirked, blocking the simple attack with great ease, his body rigid.

Cloud pinched his eyes shut as he rained strikes down upon Sephiroth, who defended expertly against each one. Cloud could feel his arms getting heavier as he tired himself out, the sounds of metal against metal like a rhythmic count down to his exhaustion. Although, after several metallic clashes, there suddenly was none. Cloud stopped swinging and opened his eyes, and from the corner of his left eye, there was a long, thin blade held to his neck from behind.

"Never close your eyes. Try harder."

Cloud blinked a few times before he turned round to face Sephiroth, who still smirked. It was so foreign to Cloud to see Sephiroth actually acting cocky. Perhaps it was something about the act of fighting another human being that invigorated him. Cloud trembled at the sight of the smirk.

"Y...yes sir..." Cloud said quietly before readying himself once more.

Cloud tried to move around more as he struck repeatedly at Sephiroth, his blade clashing with the Masamune each time. However, it was hard to keep his eyes on Sephiroth's movements because of the frightening smirk of his, and the lack of movement that he made. He simply stood there, blocking the blows as if it were child's play.

Abruptly, Cloud saw something change in Sephiroth's face, and he dodged to the right and swung the Masamune towards Cloud.

The cadet had been caught entirely off guard, and as a result, Sephiroth had gone too far.

His blade cut a very shallow wound into Cloud's thigh before he stopped himself and dropped the Masamune.

Cloud touched a fingertip to his leg and meekly looked at the blood on his fingertips.

His vision began to blur upon the sight of his own blood, and the room began to darken. The last thing that he heard before he fainted was Sephiroth calling his name.

When Cloud awoke, he could feel that he was neither laying down, nor standing up. His eyes slowly came into focus, revealing Sephiroth's face above him, looking forwards. Sephiroth was carrying him, one of his arms hooked underneath the underside of Cloud's knees, and the other wrapped around his back, his hand resting gently on his ribs.

Cloud began to struggle, not wanting to inconvenience the man by having to be carried.

"Calm yourself. We are nearly there," he said softly, his dangerous smirk gone, and his usual emotional absence returned.

Cloud whimpered and buried his face in Sephiroth's chest. He couldn't beleive that he fainted. What a nuisance he had made himself to be.

As Sephiroth continued walking evenly through the halls of the Shinra building, Cloud recalled the unbridled hatred that he saw in the eyes of the General during the last time that he was observed in one of the training rooms. He felt as if he had insulted Sephiroth personally that day, and the feeling returned on a much worse scale the more he thought about it.

Sephiroth finally stopped at the door to his apartment, their private sanctuary, slid his card-key through the lock, and entered. Gently, Sephiroth set Cloud down on the sofa and knelt before him, removing his gloves.

Cloud looked down at the General and then quickly shifted his gaze to his knees.

"What troubles you?" asked Sephiroth as he began to inspect the wound on Cloud's thigh.

"...I'm sorry that... I'm so weak, General," whispered Cloud.

Sephiroth sighed and came to sit beside Cloud on the sofa, concluding that his wound was minimal and would heal up quickly without the use of materia.

"I thought that you preferred my name over my title," stated Sephiroth, as he looked down at the cut on Cloud's thigh.

Cloud apologized and reached down to touch the wound gently.

"Cloud... You have my most sincere apologies. I never intended to hurt you.... I merely wanted to ensure that if you came into a situation where you would be in danger... you wouldn't..." Sephiroth seemed to be having a great deal of trouble saying such things, and trailed off, resuming with, "I have broken my word."

Cloud looked up and regarded the silver-haired man with a half-smile and understanding eyes.

"I'm ok... It'll be fine in the morning, I'm sure."

Sephiroth put his elbows on his knees and his forehead in his palms. His long tendrils of silver hair blocked his face from Cloud's view.

"Don't worry about me... really," Cloud comforted, but to no avail.

"Be frank. I am incompetent at being intimate, am I not?" Sephiroth asked almost inaudibly.

Cloud scooted closer and put a hand on Sephiroth's back.

"Not as much as me," said Cloud with a blushing sort of truth behind his nervous laughter.

Sephiroth looked up to Cloud, his face racked with remorse.

"I truly am sorry for hurting you," he paused for a long time before putting a hand over the wound on Cloud's thigh with gentle care, "...Being in Wutai...."

Sephiroth trailed off, his point clear. He had just returned from killing thousands in Wutai. The experience in the training room must have been nostalgic in the worst sense.

Cloud inched closer still, the contact of Sephiroth's hand upon his thigh making the oh-so familiar lump in his throat rise. He could feel his heart beat quickly as he leaned closer to the warlord beside him. His face was infernal once more.

Sephiroth raked his fingers through his hair and sat up straight, his face becoming more level, and closer, to Cloud's own.

For a moment, they made eye-contact, sapphire meeting emerald.

Cloud slowly leaned forwards, his lips lingering mere moments away from his love's.

Sephiroth hesitated and began to remove his hand from Cloud's thigh.

"I don't deserve this," whispered Sephiroth, his warm breath against Cloud's lips.

Cloud reached down and grasped the General's hand, placing it back on his thigh, a sudden courage that he did not know he had, rising in him.

Sephiroth looked down to where Cloud had placed his hand with confused eyes, just before Cloud seized the man's lips with his own tenderly, emitting a forgiving love through the contact that eased Sephiroth's suffering palpably, causing his body to relax and his face to melt into serenity.

Suddenly, fire exploded within Sephiroth, a fire unlike from the feeling that he had experienced with Cloud in Zack's mother's home. Distantly, he could sense his left hand moving up the back of Cloud's head, his fingers mingling with his soft hair, and his right moving slightly above the wound on Cloud's thigh and tightening it's grip, causing Cloud to gasp at the sudden gesture.

The blonde, in reaction, pressed himself against the older man and wrapped his arms around his neck as Sephiroth softly pushed the blonde onto his back where he hovered above him, the hand that was previously on the back of the cadet's head now being used to prop himself up.

Sephiroth moved his hand over to the wound, where he worsened the tear in the fabric of the boy's pants that the blade had wrought, sliding his hand in through the opening and gripping the inside of Cloud's thigh roughly, causing the blushing cadet beneath him to moan softly into their passionate kiss.

This was much better than Cloud's dream had been.

Cloud parted his knees from beneath the General and pulled him closer, whispering the man's name in the spaces between where their hungry lips would claim one another, their tongues playing aggressively at each other.

Farther and farther still Sephiroth's hand inched up Cloud's thigh, wringing more soft moans and whimpers from the tortured blonde who was absolutely impatient.

Sephiroth laughed seductively and smiled into the kiss.

There was a click from the door, and it swung open, the hinges creaking. There was the sound of footsteps, and a voice said, "Sephiroth, I am sick of this -- ", stopping short as the footsteps reached the sofa.

Cloud opened his eyes, focusing them behind Sephiroth, and over the back of the sofa. Director Scarlet stood there, dumbfounded.

Sephiroth paused for a moment, desperately not wanting to, and looked over his shoulder, his cheeks tainted with a hue of pink that only Cloud could seem to summon.

Slowly, Scarlet's face morphed into an absolutely horrifying grin.

Sephiroth stood from propping himself up above Cloud and regarded the woman with unhidden hatred.

"Director. What is your reason for breaking into my home?"

Scarlet shifted her weight and looked down to Cloud, dangerous thought in her eyes before she resumed what she was saying before.

"I am sick of this game."

"I'm glad we agree on that. Now, please leave."

Scarlet put a hand on her hip and began to draw close to Sephiroth.

"Not until I get what I want from you."

Sephiroth glanced down to Cloud and then back up to Scarlet.

"Cloud... Please excuse us," he said cautiously.

The blonde stood up, gripping the tear in his pants closed, and glared at Scarlet.

"Why do you do this to him? What could it possibly get for you?" he asked her in an infuriated whisper.

Sephiroth sighed miserably.

"Director, please allow Cloud and myself to have a moment alone," he said taking Cloud's hand and beginning towards his bedroom.

"I'll give you three minutes," Scarlet said, clearly frustrated.

When the bedroom door closed, Sephiroth leaned against it, his hands over his face as he thought on how to tell Cloud that there was no other way. He knew that he had to bend to Scarlet's will.

Cloud stood before him for a moment, looking up at his covered face with eyes that were filling with tears.

"Sephiroth..." he breathed.

The General reached out with one arm and held Cloud to him, putting his face into the nape of his neck.

"This is what I meant when I said that I was socially inadequate for you."

Cloud put his hands on the back of Sephiroth's neck and breathed in his fine scent.

"If I do not... let her take what she wants..." Sephiroth paused, taking a moment to settle in to his apathetic disposition, where his vulnerabilities were hidden away from even himself, "She will be responsible for thousands of deaths. SOLDIER will be destroyed."

Cloud could think of nothing to say. His mouth remained motionless.

"...I apologize."

Sephiroth released Cloud, taking a moment to look down at him, his face agonizingly empty. Cloud opened his mouth to speak, but he could not. He was trembling violently.

The two men exited the bedroom, Cloud following after the General with tears streaming his face.

When Sephiroth closed the door to his apartment behind the blonde, the sound of the automatic lock clicking was like a final condemnation of his fate. Scarlet stood behind him, her hands winding their way around his neck, her thin fingers leaving guilty trails over his collarbone and chest.

Cloud, on the other side of the door, took a few steps away from it, but resolved that he could not walk, and leaned against the wall directly adjacent to the door. Slowly, he slid down so that he was sitting with his knees against his chest and his face resting upon them.

Scarlet extended her tongue to play at the lobe of Sephiroth's ear, causing him to go rigid and suddenly inhale in disgust.

"Be a good boy and cooperate. It's a good thing I found you when I did... otherwise you would be a little hard to get.... _ready_," she whispered as she undid the straps across his chest that held his pauldrons upon his shoulders, allowing them to fall to the floor with a clatter.

If ever Sephiroth felt something, it was then. He wondered if Cloud was crying quietly outside the door, worrying about him.

Scarlet moved her hands down to undo his coat and remove it, then moving to his pants as she lead him into his bedroom.

He was obedient. It was a battle that must be fought for his comrades. For the following hours, he betrayed the trust of the one he had pledged his loyalty for, to save the lives of those in SOLDIER.

Cloud was shaking violently, and crying silently. He did not wish to disturb any of the passers-by, or make them aware that he was even there. He was content to be an invisible Shinra grunt, sitting outside the door of the General.

His mind was racing as he could hear the faint hint of Scarlet moaning in ecstasy. He knew that Sephiroth sacrificed himself for those in Wutai... and yet it still felt as if he were being split in half by each distant sound -- the occasional moan, the occasional thump of the headboard against the wall.

The blonde looked down to the cut upon his thigh, and recalled the sincerity in Sephiroth's apologies.

He hoped that Sephiroth would refrain from apologizing for this. Scarlet being able to take from the General what she wanted was Cloud's fault.

If only Cloud could have mustered the courage to defend Sephiroth, to figure a way out of Scarlet's trap, then none of this would have happened.

After hours of the torturing sounds of Scarlet's pleasure, there was a brief silence that lasted for a long while. And then she emerged.

Her hair was slightly disheveled, but it appeared as though she had taken time to ensure that her dress was just the way that it had been.

Upon her lovely face were the hints of mascara that had run, washed off, and then replaced.

She looked down upon Cloud with a feigned grin of politeness.

"Thanks for sharing, love," she said tauntingly before waving her hand and walking away, her crimson stilettos clicking strangely as she seemed to have trouble walking after what she had done.

Cloud sobbed into his knees for several minutes before resolving to enter Sephiroth's apartment. Scarlet had left the door open for him.

His first few steps were like those made in virgin snow. It felt like a sin to set foot in such a place. Nothing appeared to be different. Each book was upon it's shelf, the cushions on the sofa were immaculate as they always were, and the kitchen counter was bleach white. It was the same place as it had always been, save for the faint scent of misery.

Slowly, counting each step, Cloud moved into the bedroom, the door also left open.

Sephiroth's clothes were scattered in a very out-of-character fashion about the floor where Scarlet had torn them off. There were pillows that had fallen off of his bed, and the sheets were askew, a singular sheet hanging over Sephiroth's knees as they were held upwards, his elbows resting against them and his hands interlocked while being held against his forehead.

He remained nude, the sheet covering him from the waist down as he sat up in a slouch.

Cloud hesitated in the doorway. He wondered how they would ever be able to speak again.

"Cloud..." Sephiroth said in his carefully sculpted voice of artist's stone, "I do not know what to say... in a situation like this."

Cloud took a few steps forward, reaching the bed, his eyes locked onto the silver-haired man.

"I'm sorry..." said Cloud quietly.

Sephiroth looked up at Cloud, his eyes appearing glassy with moisture.

"Stop, Cloud."

Cloud sat down on the edge of the bed, facing away from the General, and made his first sniffle since he had started crying hours ago.

"I should have stopped her... and defended you. I'm sorry I'm so...weak..." Cloud said tearfully.

"Damn it, stop crying," Sephiroth commanded in a raised tone, his voice rumbling in it's deep pitch, ripe with the lump that was forming in his throat.

Cloud turned round to face Sephiroth, astounded at the sound in his voice. When the blonde's eyes finally fell upon the finely sculpted face of his superior, he saw something that he did not expect.

Little droplets, like liquid diamonds dripping from rich emerald, tainted his alabaster face. Cloud could not breathe.

Sephiroth seemed perplexed by the look that Cloud gave him, the anger melting away as he studied how surprised and speechless Cloud was.

"What is it?" he asked, hoping to Gaia that Scarlet had not marked him with her fingernails or by sucking on his neck as she had.

Cloud choked, "You're...crying..."

Sephiroth was slightly taken aback by such a suggestion, touching his hand to his face. He was.

The mere thought that Cloud was blaming himself for what Scarlet had done left a thick residue on Sephiroth's mind. A residue that he assumed to be sadness. He had felt guilt, he had felt solitude, and he had felt pain. But sadness was a new concept to him. And so was love.

Cloud scooted closer to Sephiroth and put his cheek to the older man's knee, wrapping his arms around it, sobbing aloud.

"I'm sorry! Please don't be sad! I'll stop..." he sniffled as he attempted to stop the oncoming bouts of tears, "I'll stop crying..."

Sephiroth put a hand on Cloud's head and, with the other, gripped at the sheets until his knuckles were white with pressure. This was so strange to him. Slowly he could feel the new feeling morph into anger. This was something that he had felt before.

"I'll kill her," said the Silver Elite as he directed his countenance downwards, his bangs falling over his face and forming a veil over his tearful eyes. Why did he have to cry? Why was Cloud blaming himself?

Cloud looked up and rubbed ferociously at his eyes.

"No... don't..." said Cloud softly, hugging Sephiroth's leg tightly with one arm while reaching out to move some of the hair out of the older man's face with the other.

Sephiroth shied away from the touch at began to rub at his own eyes.

"Do we remain family?" he asked.

Cloud smiled lightly and released Sephiroth's leg, crawling up the bed so that his face was close to his love's.

"Yes, sir. I love you."

Sephiroth removed the back of his fist from rubbing at his eyes and gazed deeply into Cloud eyes before asking in a breathy voice, "Is the injury on your leg in pain?"

The blonde, wiping once more at his eyes, laughed bittersweetly and answered, "No."

The General gently pressed his lips against Cloud's own, pulling back only after a fraction of a second, his kisses like his smiles -- lasting for almost no time at all, and yet still pure bliss.

"Good..."


	8. Chapter 9

[[ Author's Note: Due to the rules of this website, I was unable to upload chapter 8. The chapter can be found in a URL on my profile . So sorry for the long wait! ]]

Cloud rolled over lazily, his rump still rather sore. He had neglected to get clothed while Sephiroth had drifted off into the shower and began to prepare himself for the parade.

The private wanted nothing more than to simply lie in bed with his lover and listen to his heartbeat. He sighed in his melancholy mood and put his face into Sephiroth's pillow. The scent made him grin widely and laugh in a brief moment of pleasure.

The sound of water running in the nearby bathroom was a metronome to the tune playing in his mind that reminded him that he, too, needed to bathe and get dressed. The order of the parade column was to be, from front to back, Generals, Lieutenant Generals, Major Generals, Brigadier Generals, Colonels, Lieutenant Colonels, Majors, Captains, Sergeants, Lieutenants, and finally, Privates. Cloud was to be in the very back, just in front of the float upon which President Shinra, Vice President Shinra, and the board of Shinra Directors were to stand.

After a surprisingly short amount of time, the water stopped running, and Sephiroth stepped out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist.

"There is no time for you to go to the barracks showers. Feel free to use mine," he said in monotone as he began to pick up and fold the clothing that was left upon the floor from the previous day, setting Cloud's uniform and armor upon the window sill for him. Sephiroth was surprised that he had lasted for so long without picking the clothes off of the floor.

Cloud groaned and, lying on his stomach, pulled his knees up under him.

"Do I have to...?" he whined before rolling onto his back and throwing his legs lazily over the edge of the bed.

"Hygiene is generally important, although I am not forcing you to bathe."

Cloud laughed and made his way over to the General, who was pulling out a new leather coat and pair of pants from his closet. Cloud silently wondered how many sets of the same clothes the man owned.

The blonde wrapped his arms around the man's waist and kissed his bare back while blushing gently. Sephiroth seemed set on getting dressed, and did not acknowledge the gesture with anything more than a small pat on the top of Cloud's head.

It must have been 82-degrees. The intensity of the sun shining through the thick layer of smog that hung above the city was almost choking, and yet it remained a lovely day.

There were crowds of high and middle class citizens all clustered around booths sponsored by Shinra that advertised things from army enlistment to Pin-The-Tail-on-the-Chocobo. It was reminiscent, in the least, of Cloud's childhood memories of going to the fair with Tifa and their parents. The only difference was the Shinra flags and posters strewn about he cityscape that sported either the Shinra logo or the grinning face of President Shinra with the watermark "In Mako We Trust".

The march had not begun yet, and Cloud was aloof, wandering his way through those wearing First Class SOLDIER uniforms, figuring that if he kept moving towards the end of the column, he would find the pack of cadets. The heat mixed with his fear that the march would begin without him being in the correct place caused sweat to drip down the back of his neck.

Biggs and Wedge were the golden arch that summoned the sigh of relief that signified that Cloud was in the right place. They ran up in their cadet uniforms, waving and grinning from beneath their helmets. Cloud was required to wear his own helmet, which seemed ludicrous due to the oppressive heat. With a final breath of 82-degree air, he fit the helmet upon his head, preparing for the stifling heat that would soon ensue.

A hush fell over the crowds, even the children sitting upon their father's shoulders holding their tongues hovering over their ice-cream cones, hesitating as a long, loud trumpet note sounded over the cacophony, marking the beginning of the march. Cloud, Biggs, and Wedge all fumbled into place, fixing their collars and situating their guns so that the barrels rested upon their shoulders. They stood at attention, the visor's of their helmets creating a pleasant shade over their eyes, giving a respite from the blinding morning brightness.

Cloud mourned for his future pain. No doubt marching would irritate his sore bottom.

A second note sounded, slightly higher and louder, and several television screens that decorated the faces of buildings that would usually be used for advertisement lit up with several different views of the column. Most of them focused on the crowds for the time being, although, as the column began in it's march, the screens shifted views to the waving President, the stoic Vice President, and the very front of the column.

Upon one screen, Sephiroth marched beside two men, one with slicked back black hair, who was smiling widely, waving cheerfully to the crowds, and the other, with his reddish hair and red leather coat, scowling discontentedly, tossing a look to Sephiroth occasionally. Sephiroth merely looked forwards, his left hand resting cautiously upon the hilt of the Masamune.

Cloud gawked at the massive size of the sword that rested upon the black-haired man's back. It must have weighed twice as much as he did!

The two men on either side of Sephiroth must have been the other two SOLDIER First Class Generals. Genesis Rhapsodos and Angeal Hewley. He wondered which was which.

Confetti fell the higher levels of skyscrapers that surrounded, and Cloud could focus on nothing besides how he was moving his feet. He was to keep his knees straight while in mid-stride, and keep in step with all those around him. His left arm was to swing at the same velocity as those of the other cadets, and his back was to remain straight, his shoulders pushed back proudly.

Underneath the din of the parade, he could hear Biggs and Wedge tossing back and forth little conversations about the other two Generals, and what they would buy first, cotton candy, or ice-cream.

"Are you going to the chocobo races?" Biggs asked Cloud without breaking his pattern.

Cloud stumbled at the distraction and took a moment to recover before answering, "Chocobo races?"

"They're gonna clear out the street for them. They brought jockeys from the Gold Saucer."

Apparently, the parade was to celebrate a victory on the front. When the column reached the end of their circuit, they turned a full 180-degrees and stood at attention as the President made his way to a podium set up upon a stage, where the three Generals stood Genesis and Angeal on his right, and Sephiroth on his left. His son, the Vice President stood between Sephiroth and his father, his hands linked behind his back. Behind the Generals, the President, and the Vice President stood the board of directors, Scarlet standing conveniently behind Sephiroth.

The President waited a moment for the crowds to settle down, and put his right hand into the air.

"My fair people of Midgar!" he began in his fat, rumbling voice before hesitating to allow a brief moment of applause, "In the preceding weeks, we have reaped yet another victory on the Wutain front! Let us revel in our victory this day. While the war is not yet over, we can promise you, as faithful servants to the people," the Vice President grimaced at the word before assuming a disgusted countenance as his father continued, "that the war shall end with Shinra Electric Incorporated as the victor -- with _you_ as the victor! Long live Shinra Inc.!"

The crowds howled their approval, chanting, "Long live Shinra! Long live Shinra!"

The President paused once again for another round of applause before resuming, "And now, allow me to award our three SOLDIER Generals yet another medal of Wutain Victory," the President held up three medals that were more clearly shown upon the screens strew about the area, upon each golden disk was the image of a phoenix holding a cherry blossom in one talon and an arrow in the other.

The President made his way, his red suit a blotch of out-of-place color in the scene, and stood before the man in red, who reluctantly put his fist to his heart and bowed briefly before the President.

"SOLDIER First Class General Genesis Rhapsodos."

The president pinned the medal upon General Rhapsodos' coat and patted him upon the shoulder while photographers snapped their photos.

Next, he regarded the black-haired man who bowed identically to Genesis, pinning the second medal upon his black sleeveless shirt, posing for a second photo.

"SOLDIER First Class General Angeal Hewley."

Thirdly, with a visibly higher amount of pride, the President announced, "SOLDIER First Class General Sephiroth -- the Silver Elite."

Sephiroth put his fist to his heart and bowed his head before receiving his medal.

Upon the screen it was apparent that the three General's wore many more than the one that was just awarded them. Each the same as the other, yet the ribbons attached to the pin were different colors.

After the camera-flashes finished, the President reached back into his pocket, and pulled forth another medal.

"And, in addition, I would like to award General Sephiroth the Medal of Honor, the highest of commendations for those in the Shinra Military!" he announced pridefully as photographers began on their frenzy anew.

Upon seeing the medal pinned upon Sephiroth's coat, Cloud whirled round, breaking the pattern in the column, and faced the stage, clapping and cheering.

From afar, Cloud could see Sephiroth's tall figure bend into a deep bow and take the podium upon the urging of the President.

Wedge reached over and turned Cloud round to stand as he was expected to, sending him a glare. Cloud blushed and shrugged his apology before sending his gaze to one of the screens upon one of the many buildings and watched, holding his breath.

General Rhapsodos seemed livid as General Hewley elbowed him good-naturedly.

Sephiroth cleared his throat and regarded the crowd through the microphone.

"It is a pleasure to be such a pride to Shinra Incorporated. I can only hope that I will wear these medals well," he said before bowing his head and stepping away from the podium.

When the column was allowed to break, the militants scattered throughout the scene, shaking people's hands, embracing loved ones, and indulging in the various activities that were set up around sector four. Cloud wandered about until he found Zack, who was talking to a young woman in a yellow dress who was advertising for the military.

"Nice day, isn't it Lieutenant?" asked Cloud as he removed his helmet.

Zack turned to pat Cloud on the back.

"Only cause we got to see Genesis so pissed off, am I right?" he replied, including the young woman with the questioning nature of his statement.

"I don't think it would be a very good idea to speak badly about the General."

"Smart choice," put in an irritated voice from behind the group.

Cloud looked over his shoulder to see the man in the red coat standing beside Sephiroth and Angeal.

Genesis looked as if he was about to tear Zack's tongue from his head.

"Aw, Genesis, always so pissy. Why don't you go read some of your fruity poems?" Zack said with a laugh.

Angeal send Zack a stern look and said, "Respect your superiors, Zack. Maintain your honor."

Zack stopped and began to scratch at the back of his neck, looking to his feet and smiling nervously like a dog being scolded.

"Sorry, Angeal."

Sephiroth cleared his throat and took a few steps forward, putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder.

"Genesis, Angeal, this is Private Cloud Strife. Him an I are very close," he said, looking mainly at Genesis.

Sephiroth knew for a fact that Genesis would have some sort of negativity towards Cloud. Genesis had a knack for always wanting to compete with Sephiroth. They were friends, regardless of this fact, for Sephiroth enjoyed the competition, but there was an underlying feeling of resentment between them.

Angeal put forth his hand first, grinning politely as Cloud shook it, "A pleasure, Private. Call me Angeal."

"The pleasure is all mine, General..." Cloud said stutteringly as he blushed.

Sephiroth seemed pleased in his own little way.

Genesis took a step forward and began to circle Cloud, looking him up and down. His mako-hued eyes were like lasers, searing through Cloud's flesh with their scrutiny. Finally he stopped before him.

"Damn, Genesis. You don't even know the kid yet, and you hate him already?" Zack snapped.

Angeal gave Zack another stern look, shutting him up.

Genesis changed his posture and sighed, finally speaking in a tone that was not rank with annoyance.

"There is no hate, only joy, for you are beloved by the goddess," he said, taking Cloud's hand briefly.

Sephiroth took a step between Cloud and Genesis, his eyes razor-sharp.

"Loveless, act two," finished Genesis before turning from the group and flourishing his hand.

Cloud automatically had the impression that General Rhapsodos would be trouble.

"I hate these stupid festivities," Genesis said before heading off into the crowd.

"Genesis!" Angeal called after him before waving and regarding Cloud, Sephiroth, and Zack, "It was nice seeing you two again. And it was nice to meet you, Private. I'd better go make sure Genesis doesn't maim anyone on his way to the HQ."

He jogged off in the direction that Genesis had gone off in, and Sephiroth, Cloud, and Zack were left by themselves.

"Perhaps we should go back up to the building now," suggested Sephiroth as he looked about awkwardly at the surrounding cityscape that was decorated with fair-like games and booths.

Zack laughed and took Sephiroth's arm in one hand, and Cloud's arm in the other.

"Nonsense! We're gonna have some fun!" he sang as he hauled them off towards a collection of booths.

The faces of children and their parents that surrounded the trio in every direction were laughing, gleeful and carefree. The waving hands of vendors that caught people's attentions invaded in the isles that were organized between buildings, who's exteriors were shielded by booths and banners.

There were such attractions as arm-wrestling with a SOLDIER, dart-throwing, and a game of accuracy that involved an air-soft gun and a target, among many others.

Upon the shelves of game-booths were oversized stuffed animals and, upon the more adult-targeted games' shelves, swords.

Through the corner of Sephiroth's eye, he could see Cloud looking at a large stuffed moogle in a booth labeled "Shooters Gallery" in a flashy manner. There were five tubes in which water sat a few inches in depth at the bottom. Below each tube was a small target with a hole in the center, and a few feet in front of the targets and tubes was a counter upon which five water-guns were bolted. The man at the booth was leaning against the counter, playing a game of cards with himself.

Zack nudged Sephiroth with the butt of his elbow and grinned cockily.

"I bet you I could kick your ass!" he exclaimed with much pride in his assumption.

Sephiroth took another look at the game and shrugged.

"My accuracy rate is 99.9%. If we were to engage in such an activity, I would be the victor."

Zack scoffed an replied, "Well, I've always been lucky!"

At that, Zack hauled Sephiroth off to the booth and sat down on one of the stools set out before the counter. Sephiroth sat down beside Zack and handed the vendor the required price.

Cloud smiled at how Zack had gotten Sephiroth to play a game. From the very second that the Lieutenant had decided that the three of them were going to remain at the festivities, the blonde had been worrying that Sephiroth would be bored out of his mind. Sephiroth was not the type of man to enjoy games.

A bell rang and the game began.

Sephiroth pulled the trigger a split second after the signal was given, hitting the mark on the target immediately. He had only to continue pulling the trigger, feeding water from the gun into the tube, where it rose steadily towards a light at the top.

Zack fired mere seconds after Sephiroth, hitting the mark as well, missing only once.

As the water in the General's tube neared the top, Cloud began cheering aloud for him, thrusting one fist up in the air and blurting out things like, "Go, go, go!"

Zack grunted, "Quit rootin' for him, Porky!" in response.

Finally, Sephiroth was the victor, the light at the top of his tube illuminating first and setting off an alarm.

"We have a winner! Congratulations, General!" announced the vendor, clapping his hands.

The sound of a small applause came from behind the three, causing Cloud to turn round to see that there was a crowd gathering. They all cheered at Sephiroth's inevitable victory.

Zack slumped and mumbled, "Way to be a glory-hog... silver-haired prick."

Cloud jumped with delight at the victory and laughed aloud as Sephiroth turned to face him.

The General's face flickered into a smile for a fraction of a second, and then it was stone again. He silently took pleasure upon the look of happiness upon Cloud's face. It was cute.

The vendor put a hand on Sephiroth's shoulder and said dramatically, "Pick a prize, sir!"

Sephiroth paused for a moment. He did not have a use for an overly-large stuffed animal toy. Who did? They were utterly useless.

Although, something occurred to him just as he was opening his mouth to decline.

"The moogle, please," he answered.

The vendor handed him the toy accordingly, and thanked him for his business.

Sephiroth looked at the moogle for a moment, examining it's chubby cheeks and fluffy pom-pom atop it's head. He could tell that it was made from low-quality fabrics and stuffing solely on the way that it felt in his hands, regardless of how they were gloved. How silly -- although, it would serve it's purpose.

He turned and looked down at Cloud for a moment who was smiling up at him, his cheeks characteristically in mid-blush.

"Great job, sir!" he said cheerfully up to him.

Sephiroth pushed the moogle forwards.

"I want you to have it, Cloud."

Cloud's face burned as he looked up to the significantly taller man, his mouth slightly open.

"M...Me...?" he stuttered, "Oh, sir... I won't have anywhere in the barracks to put it. You don't have to give me that..."

Sephiroth tilted his head, his brows knitting in thought.

"You may keep it at my apartment. Do you wish to have it?"

Cloud shifted his weight from one leg to the other a few times, his right hand clutching at his left elbow as he looked over his shoulder at the crowd that remained behind him. The onlookers whispered back and forth, some quietly "aww"-ing.

Finally, he reached out and took the stuffed animal, hugging it tightly and smiling up to Sephiroth. He would treasure the stuffed animal forever.

"Thank you..." he said quietly before looking downwards shamefully, for his face was a quite unnatural hue of red.

The onlookers all cooed at the situation and disbanded, gossip on whether or not the General was in a relationship with the younger male sure to ensue. Sephiroth, however was completely oblivious to the crowd. He was used to being put under a microscope -- being observed.

Softly, barely a visible change, Sephiroth smiled, the graceful expression lasting for almost more than ten seconds surprisingly.

Cloud laughed out loud with pleasure at the sight, although, Zack could only be expected to be quiet for so long.

"Hey! Butt-pirates! Lets go try out some other games! There's gotta be one that I can beat Mr. 99.9% accuracy at!"

With that, Zack hauled the two of them off towards yet another booth.

They visited several booths that day, Zack failing to defeat Sephiroth at all but one attraction. It was the trivia game.

The game was turn based, and Zack had the luck of getting to chose the topics almost every time.

"What is the name of the lead actor in this years number one blockbuster, Legend?"

Sephiroth merely shrugged. He did not watch television, nor attend movies at the theaters. They bored him.

"Gregory Onde!" squealed Zack, finally tasting victory at Sephiroth's expense.

Sephiroth shrugged again at his defeat. He found no significance in playing games. Though, he was pleased with himself that he had won Cloud a souvenir.

As the sun set, the smell of gasoline and the exhaust released from the nearby mako reactor settled in the air. A voice sounded from a megaphone nearby.

"Please make your way to Capitol Boulevard for the chocobo races!"

Zack leapt with excitement, running off towards the boulevard on which the jockeys were mounting their chocobos.

Cloud followed after, at a jog at first, but then looked back to Sephiroth, who strode evenly after the two.

The blonde retreated to Sephiroth's side and looked away shyly as he reached out and took the General's hand in his own.

Sephiroth looked down to Cloud, but his face was directed away.

When they found Zack, he was already penniless. He had divided all of his money onto two different chocobos, betting that they would come in first.

"Zack. If you bet on two different chocobos, you will make no money whatsoever if one of them wins," stated Sephiroth matter-of-factly.

Zack looked up to the man with a raised brow.

"Nuh-uh! Prize money for first place is double your bet! Oh... wait... shit!"

Cloud chuckled under his breath, but Zack landed a punch on the cadet's shoulder, causing him to silence himself and rub at the flesh underneath the pauldron that had received the blow. Some protection they were.

When the racers set off, Cloud couldn't help but to cheer on the chocobos, jumping about with his moogle sitting on his shoulders.

The birds came in on the finish line and the announcer exclaimed, "Oh! Looks like a photo-finish!" he paused, "And the winner is..." Zack held his breath, "Number seven!"

Zack cursed so loudly that surrounding mothers put their hands over their children's ears.

"Watch your mouth, young man!" one of them barked at him.

Zack grumbled his displeasure and punched Cloud's shoulder again, this time causing him to take a step back from the force. Sephiroth sent Zack a glare, but Zack was oblivious.

"I lost."

When Cloud and Sephiroth finally persuaded Zack to part with the fair-like scene, the sun was long down, and the springtime air was lit as vendors began to take down their booths and return their buildings to their average appearance. The screens upon the buildings relit with their flashy advertisements, most of them advertising the movie-premeir of _Loveless_.

When the trio found themselves upon the front steps of the Shinra building, they also found themselves being put under a familiar stare.

Genesis stood leaning up against the hand-railing on the top of the small set of stairs, a lit cigarette to his lips. And, to make matters worse, Scarlet stood before him.

"Got a light?" she inquired, running her tongue over her lips.

Genesis scoffed and looked away from her.

"Not for you, Director."

Scarlet looked clearly offended and, slamming the stiletto heel of one of her shoes against the pavement, marched her way off into the building.

Sephiroth, in a justified moment of self-contradiction, was thankful that Genesis cared little for the SOLDIERs in Wutai, for if he had, then Scarlet surely would have been responsible for many deaths.

As the director disappeared into the headquarters, Genesis laughed quietly, crossing his ankles and looking up to find that Cloud, Zack, and Sephiroth were nearing.

"Well, well. Sephiroth," he paused looking Cloud up and down, "and Strife."

Zack flailed his arms about, saying, "I'm here too, fruitcake!"

Genesis glared at Zack, but, as was to be expected, Zack merely brought his first two fingers before his mouth, split them apart, and began moving his tongue between them, displaying a quite profane gesture before the General. Zack was all too satisfied that he was in Sephiroth's sect and could not be subject to Genesis' fury.

However, Rhapsodos tossed his head, sending his red hair to the side and out of his eyes. Zack was a mere pion to him.

"Smoking is against the SOLDIER code of conduct, Genesis," said Sephiroth soberly, taking a step forwards.

Genesis chuckled and threw his cigarette onto the pavement, putting it out with his foot.

"That's no way to talk to a hero," he said, stepping forwards, looking up at the silver-haired man who stood about five inches taller than he.

Rhapsodos paused and inhaled deeply, closing his eyes and then opening them as the breath came out.

"So you are in a relationship."

It was more of a statement than a question.

Sephiroth was stunned for a moment.

"I am," he answered.

Cloud immediately looked downwards and began to stare at his boots, hoping that Genesis would not say anything further.

Zack giggled and slung an arm over Sephiroth's shoulders.

"Yeah! Now your not the only homo in SOLDIER!"

"Enjoying poetic literature does not define one's sexuality, second class," spat Genesis, shoving Zack backwards a few feet.

Zack flew back, fists at the ready, but Sephiroth held him back.

Cloud was appalled at the situation, but dared not say a thing.

Genesis smiled daringly at Zack before directing his attention to Cloud, stepping close to him.

He curled his gloved fingers around Cloud's chin and forced him to look up into his eyes.

"S..Sir...?"

Cloud could feel himself sweating.

"I don't want to hear anything negative about you from Sephiroth, or I might have to discipline you, myself," he said with a smirk.

Cloud took a moment before he understood that Genesis was making an advance on him. He tried to pull away, but a SOLDIER's grip was unbreakable.

Genesis chuckled as Cloud struggled against him, and held him there for a moment longer before finally releasing him.

"I warn you, Strife... Sephiroth and I compete at everything," he turned from the group and smiled sweetly over his shoulder as he waved, "It's in our nature."

Cloud watched the graceful male enter the building and step into the nearby elevator, paralyzed with one hand holding his moogle, and the other lingering on his chin where Genesis' strong hand had been.

Sephiroth began to stride off after him, his face reading unfiltered fury, but Zack returned the favor and held him back gently.

"Let him go, man," he said.

Sephiroth took a deep, calming sigh and leaned up against the hand-rail.

"He... is not usually like that," he said in his friend's defense as Cloud remained stunned, "Usually our conversations regard Wutai, or training. I'm sorry, Cloud."

At the sound of an apology, Cloud whirled round and, blushingly, began spouting out, "Don't be sorry, sir!"

Cloud neared the General, but, when he got close, could not muster up the courage for any sort of affectionate contact. So, there he stood, his cheeks aflame.

"What the hell are we still doing out here? It's past my dinner-time!" whined Zack, his hands over his stomach.

When Sephiroth closed his apartment door behind him, rather loudly at that, Cloud jumped slightly, and, of course, Zack was already in the kitchen.

Cloud's arms, clad in wiry muscle, were clinging onto to the moogle Sephiroth had given him, and his face was buried in the strangely-smelling top of it's head. He looked around the dimly lit apartment and found himself wondering what further mischief Genesis would stir now that himself and Angeal had returned from Wutai.

He certainly hoped that Sephiroth would not hurt him.

"God damn, Seph! You need to get some good food! All that's in your fridge is milk, onions, and lettuce!" whined Zack.

"There is also cheese and bottled water," said Sephiroth matter-of-factly.

Cloud plopped down on the sofa and continued to fret about what sort of trouble Genesis would bring upon himself, as he closed his eyes and hugged the moogle so tightly that he could barely find space enough between his nose and the stuffed animal to breathe.

"And what can you make with all of that shit?"

Sephiroth sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you look in the cabinet. There's bread. Make yourself a sandwich."

Cloud heard footfalls nearing the couch, but he did not separate from his death-grip on his moogle.

Sephiroth sat down beside Cloud and slouched. It was rather funny to Cloud that Sephiroth's character was such to never slouch, to never get entirely comfortable, and yet he always seemed to do so upon his sofa.

His knees were spread apart and his right hand came to rest upon the top of Cloud's head, while the other hung on the other side of the armrest.

"What should I name him?" asked Cloud, not looking up.

Sephiroth was silent for a moment before replying, "Why would you name an inanimate object? It has no consciousness, and therefore no identity."

Cloud laughed gently and looked up to the General.

"I want to name him because he is special to me."

Sephiroth opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. He took a moment to ponder before arguing the ethics of loving something that could never possibly love you back due to lack of emotions. Ironic, he thought, that he had thought himself to be precisely that, and yet he felt an attachment to the blonde the likes of which he had never known before.

"Specify its gender."

Cloud laughed with delight at the concept that Sephiroth was humoring him and took a moment to assess the moogle of it's gender.

"He's a boy."

Zack poked his head into the main room from behind the wall that separated the kitchen from it.

"You finally give birth, Cloud? So who's is it? Mine, or Seph's?" he teased before laughing and retreating into the kitchen.

"Sir Leopold," said Sephiroth.

Cloud arched a brow in a confused response.

"Name him Sir Leopold."

The blonde hugged the moogle tightly to his chest and smiled broadly.

"He is pretty noble-looking, isn't he?" he said, "Sir Leopold it is!"

Sephiroth, somewhere deep within his fortress of emotional ambiguity, felt accomplished. If he could put such a smile upon the face of someone like Private Cloud Strife, then he was truly loved. Underneath the nuts, cogs, and bolts of his innermost mental workings, were thoughts made of flesh, blood, and humanity. To see Cloud smiling in such a way, was to see himself as a human being, as something that was not caged, or doomed to everlasting an emotional solitude in a world where there was no physical solitude.

"Thank you for winning him for me, Sephiroth," said Cloud, beaming up at the General.

Sephiroth slowly, his body moving like a rusty machine, leaned down to kiss the younger male. When he withdrew, he brushed some of the soft blonde hair away from Cloud's forehead and whispered, "I love you."

When Zack came bounding into the room, he had a sandwich piled high with vegetables and cheese and a glass of milk.

"I'll show you pussies how to eat!" he proclaimed before proceeding to shove so much of the sandwich into his mouth that he choked for a few moments.

The corners of Sephiroth's mouth twitched into a sort of momentary smile, unfazed by Zack's stupidity.

"So, Seph..." Zack paused to cough, "You and Cloud -- I didn't see Cloud come back to the barracks last night. You finally get laid?"

Sephiroth blinked a few times and looked over his shoulder at Zack who was leaning against the back of the sofa from behind.

"What does it mean to 'get laid'?" he asked flatly.

Cloud flinched and used Sir Leopold as a shield so that the world wouldn't see the color of his face.

"Shmex!" replied Zack with his mouth full.

Sephiroth made a sound in the back of his throat that confirmed his understanding of the new term.

"If such an act had occurred, I would have no desire to inform you."

Zack loudly fell to the ground and began to giggle uncontrollably.

"Cloud's not a virgin anymoooooooore!" he chanted over and over again in a sing-song sort of voice.

The poor blonde huffed his embarrassment into the moogle and began to untie his boots.

Late into the night, after Sephiroth had wandered into his bedroom and shut the door behind him, and after Zack had drifted off into a deep slumber, Cloud felt that he needed a shower rather badly. The hot day that had preceded, on top of the march and the activities of the festival had left him sweaty and with a feeling of being rather filthy.

The only problem was the the bathroom was only accessible from Sephiroth's bedroom.

Cloud was been sitting on the couch, Zack's head in his lap, and had listened to the lieutenant tell silly stories of his stays in Wutai until he had fallen asleep. Getting up would be a challenge, he resolved.

Slowly, gingerly, Cloud slid out from underneath Zack's head, replacing his lap with one of the sofa's cushions. He snapped to attention, ready to assess the damage done to the black-haired buffoon's slumber.

Zack merely mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over, wriggling his body slightly before settling into a still silence.

Quietly, on his toes, Cloud inched towards Sephiroth's door. He issued three gentle knocks, and Sephiroth was at the door before the third could be finished.

The General, much to the cadet's surprise, was wearing something other than his leathery norm. Upon his upper half was a black, cotton, sleeved shirt with a wide collar that exposed much of his upper-chest and the spaces between his shoulders and his neck. Upon his lower-half, he wore a pair of loosely fitting black, cotton, pants. His long, shimmering silver hair was pulled up into a tail with a little black ribbon, and his face was serene.

Sir Leopold in hand, Cloud could not help but stare at the silver-haired man before him.

Sephiroth raised a brow.

"You do not need an invitation to enter, Cloud. You have permission to come and go as so pleases you," he said sternly before turning and climbing back into his bed, where he had left a book entitled 'The Art of War' mingled with the sheets, a bookmark somewhere in the middle.

Cloud smiled meekly and pulled his eyes away from how dashing his lover looked.

"I was just wondering if I could use your shower..." he said quietly.

Sephiroth nodded as he adjusted his pillow and settled back into reading his book.

Cloud gently placed Sir Leopold down on the foot of the bed, opposite to the side that Sephiroth occupied, and made his way into the bathroom.

The sink was a sparkling porcelain, as well as the toilet and the frame of the glass-walled shower-stall.

Above the sink was a mirror-faced medicine cabinet that Cloud could not help but open. Inside was a tube of mint-flavored toothpaste, a white plastic toothbrush, a syringe and needle, and several empty vials. He assumed that they were for self-administered mako-injections.

There was a square bar of soap on the side of the sink, and an identical bar in the shower.

Cloud stripped himself of his clothes after closing the door, and stepped into the cold shower-stall.

How lovely it was to not have to use a public barracks shower, where there was no privacy. He took up a bottle of generic shampoo and began his cleaning ritual.

When Cloud found that he was clean, he shut off the water and reached out to the towel rack, where a clean, white towel awaited him.

However, as Cloud finished drying himself, he found that he did not have clean clothes to change into. He was always a bit of a girl when it came to being dirty.

He sighed and wrapped the towel around his waist. He would have to ask Sephiroth for spares, and such a thing was quite beyond the borders of his courage. Hands shaking, and his heart hammering against his ribs, Cloud poked his infernally-hued face out of the bathroom.

"Um... S...Sephir...oth...?" he stuttered at a whisper.

The General looked up from his book.

The very sight of the younger man before him, his hair drooping from it's usual spikiness, and a few stray droplets of water running down his exposed flesh sent a strange sort of feeling up Sephiroth's spine. He cleared his throat and looked back down to his book, pretending to read.

"Do... you think that... I could... maybe... borrow some clothes..?"

Sephiroth nodded and refused to accept that the heat on his cheeks meant that he was blushing.

Cloud stumbled out of the bathroom and opened the drawer nearest him in Sephiroth's dresser.

Inside the drawer were several pairs of folded white boxer shorts, each the same as the other. Cloud's face illuminated the room with it's redness. He forced himself to blink and take a pair. He took a breath and moved on to another drawer.

Inside the next was several pairs of leather pants, all black and having the appearance that gave Cloud an unsettled feeling. It would be rather unpleasant to sleep in leather pants. He resolved that he would simply have to wear the pants that he had been wearing earlier in the day.

The final drawer. Inside were several long-sleeved black cotton shirts, all having the same general appearance of the one that Sephiroth currently wore. Cloud made a whimsical mental note that Sephiroth lived and breathed uniformity, by what seemed to be his own desire.

He was obsessive compulsive when it came to cleaning his home, and each one of his possessions were either white or black and precisely the same as the other. Generics seemed to be his best friend.

Cloud took out one of the shirts from the drawer, discovering that it would be quite large on him, since his build was so much smaller than that of the masculine General.

Looking over his shoulder to see if Sephiroth was looking, the blonde quickly hiked up the boxer-shorts underneath his towel and bit his lip. He was wearing Sephiroth's underwear. The thought made his body tremble with embarrassment and his face burn with it's color.

Next, he slid into the shirt, and pulled the towel off of his waist, since the shirt's length went just seven inches above his knee, and began to muss his hair with it in an attempt at drying it.

From behind, Cloud could hear a soft chuckle, causing him to whirl round.

Sephiroth was smiling softly and gazing contentedly at Cloud.

"S...sir...?"

The General merely shook his head, placed his bookmark between the pages which he was reading, and put the book aside. He sat up straight and made a motion for Cloud to come to him.

Meekly, Cloud obeyed.

"You look small in my clothes," he said.

The blonde nodded blushingly as he sat on the edge of the bed and took Sir Leopold up into his arms.

"It is strange to me," Sephiroth mused as he slung an arm around Cloud's shoulders, "that I should find something, let alone another man, so..." he paused, hoping for a better word, but could think of none, "cute."

Cloud laughed with delight and released Sir Leopold to throw his arms around Sephiroth's neck.

The General resolved that he would have to train himself to accept such notions, for each time that Cloud surprised him with a touch, he had to hold back the urge to go on the defensive and retaliate. Most of the times that he had been touched, were either in war, or in the laboratory. It was second nature for his entire body to tense when touched.

Cloud directed his face upwards, his lips ever so close to Sephiroth's.

"Cloud, I -- "

Abruptly, the door swung open.

Zack stood there, his fists on his hips, with a wide grin upon his face.

"We have guests!" he announced.

Sephiroth made a sound deep in his throat that betrayed him to be rather annoyed, while Cloud leapt up to his feet and began to nervously scratch at the back of his neck. Zack had walked in on a rather tender moment.

When Sephiroth entered the main room, his dreaded suspicions were confirmed. Genesis and Angeal stood before Zack, who was laughing, his arm thrown over Angeal's shoulder.

"Those two are gay as they come, man! You should see them -- all snuggly and whatnot!" he was saying to Angeal as Genesis simply stood beside the two, his arms crossed and his expression thoughtful.

"Why are you not wearing any pants, Cloud?" asked Angeal, revealing that he was not listening at all to Zack.

Genesis's stare whipped to Cloud, his expression suddenly composed of a smirk that Sephiroth could not help but glare at.


	9. Chapter 10

Presently, Genesis ran his fingers through his hair and began to step towards Cloud, his mouth beginning to form speech. However, Sephiroth stepped between the two, holding his left arm out as a blockade.

"Your behavior is intolerable, Genesis," spat Sephiroth, his brows twitching awkwardly in his efforts to conceal his anger.

How dare he, thought Sephiroth, harass Cloud three times in the same night. Rhapsodos' arrogance would surely be the end of him.

Angeal cleared his throat loudly and put his fists upon his hips. He shifted his weight a few times between legs, and forced the four other men direct their attention to him.

"This quarrel ends here. Why don't we all just have a good time? Genesis and I have just returned from Wutai! Tonight should be a happy one," he said more sternly than good-naturedly.

Zack leapt to attention and began to make a motion with his arms that mimicked a boxer.

"Let's go hit the training rooms!" he put in excitedly.

Sephiroth and Genesis locked glares again, ignoring the raven-haired optimists. They finished their battles on their own.

Electricity could almost be seen between the two.

Angeal shifted weight between his left and right legs a few times before sighing defeatedly.

"Come on Zack, there's nothing we can do. Let's just let the two be..." he said before taking Zack by the arm and making a brief eye-contact with him before hauling him out of the room.

Silence.

Sephiroth inched backward, his arm still outstretched like a lioness protecting it's cub. His eyes were like icy jade, ready to cut, beneath downward brows that easily portrayed his unwillingness to allow Genesis to proceed.

Rhapsodos smiled widely and said with a smooth brand of calm, "And are you a good little cadet for the General, Cloud? Obeying his i_every_/i order, I'm sure."

Cloud opened his mouth to say something, but he was struck with a sudden overwhelming fear that held his tongue still. Sephiroth, a man who had never been known to defy a colleague, lowered his arm from it's protective pose, and took three measured, calm steps towards Genesis.

They stared at each other for what seemed to be only a fraction of a second before there was a flash of movement and Genesis was on the ground, huddled up in pain. Sephiroth had struck him, apparently hitting him with such a speed that Cloud could only detect the wake in the air that the motion had left.

Sephiroth's left fist was balled up at his side, his knuckles visibly split and dripping with an almost alarming amount of blood. Bone could be seen through the split skin on his hands, but the adrenaline flowing through his system prevented him from even becoming aware of the fact that he was bleeding. Cloud was too horrified to move.

And then, through the silence that was only partially filled with Sephiroth's rough breathing and the sound of his heartbeat in his ears, there was laughter.

Genesis sat up and began to wipe at the bloody gash that had resulted from the strike. It was vertical, and the edges of the tear were jagged, showing that the flesh had been ripped apart by the blunt force of Sephiroth's fist.

"Touchy, aren't we?" he spat almost gleefully.

He reached into the pocket of the pants he wore beneath his red jacket, and pulled out a small greenish orb. A restore materia. A glow engulfed his hand and snaked all the way up his arm where it settled upon the gash, appearing to sew the wound shut. He was healed, but he no doubt still felt a mind-numbing pain.

"Indeed. And you should be thankful for the mako in your blood. Without it, I would have shattered your skull and broken your neck."

Sephiroth began to inch forwards, moving in for another strike, but Genesis was at the ready, pulling off his gloves.

Although, Sephiroth came to collide with something warm and hard. He looked downwards, to see what had stopped him from his assault.

Cloud stood between Sephiroth and Genesis, his arms held out as a barricade. His eyes were pinched shut as tightly as possible, and his face was held slightly to the side, as if he were preparing himself to be struck.

Sephiroth faltered and looked down to Cloud questioningly.

"Cloud -- What are you doing?" asked Sephiroth angrily.

Genesis snickered, "He doesn't want you to hit me again. How sweet."

Cloud was visibly shaking.

"Please stop... You're hurt..." he managed.

Genesis shrugged and slipped his gloves back on, moving towards the door.

"This is boring me. We're scheduled for training at 0800 hours tomorrow. Don't be late."

With that, he issued a final wave and slunk out of the apartment.

Sephiroth growled under his breath something profane and threw a vase that was on a nearby end-table at the wall. He slowly moved back into his bedroom, leaving Cloud standing in the main room of his apartment, alone.

The blonde fell to his knees, and tried to catch his breath. His heart was violently beating up against his ribs, trying to get out, for the air that he breathed did not seem like enough. He could feel his lungs suffering claustrophobia before he fell down to the floor, where he laid silently, forcing himself to breath slowly and deeply.

Someone could have died.

After hours of laying on the ground, staring at dark blood spatters in the carpet that were not a few inches from him, Cloud wobbled to his feet. He teetered to the nearest wall, where he leaned and comforted himself, his eyes not able to peel away from the bloodstains. There could have been so much more.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud breathed in a hoarse whisper, for, in his terrified stupor, he had forgotten that Sephiroth had been wounded.

Cloud hastily staggered into Sephiroth's room, his eyes following a trail of blood left on the generic white carpet.

There he was -- sitting upon the edge of his bed, looking down at the wound across his knuckles. He just let it bleed. The blood oozed forth, thick and dark, in a string of heavy liquid down to the floor, where it pooled and saturated all it touched.

Sephiroth's bangs hung over his face, leaving only his mouth to be seen.

His lips hung slightly ajar, and like some terrible predator, his teeth could be seen glimmering white in the darkness.

The blood smelled of iron and mako and stained the pale flesh of the General's feet that were placed on either side of the mess.

Cloud could not muster up any speech. He simply inched closer to the silver-haired man, a man who had slain thousands, until he reached the bed, where he kneeled down upon the mattress, just beside Sephiroth.

He reached out tenderly, his fingers only gently touching the General's wounded hand before Sephiroth pulled away.

"Sir... please..." Cloud whispered.

Sephiroth's mouth curled into a sad sort of smile.

"When the human body is inflicted with a deep wound, it compensates by releasing endorphins. Endorphins are peptides that activate the body's opiate receptors, causing an analgesic effect. They also result in a feeling of emotional relief or happiness," he paused, Cloud's eyes tracing awe-fully over the string of blood.

The silence wore on, causing Cloud to reach out once more, but Sephiroth only pulled away once more.

"There is rubbing alcohol in the bathroom cabinet."

When Cloud had returned with the alcohol, Sephiroth had not moved.

"I'm sorry that you had to see..." began the older man, "me... in such a state."

"I've seen you hurt before... It's nothing to be ashamed of..." Cloud said back tenderly as he sniffled back tears, his knees settling in the pool of Sephiroth's blood so that he could get closer to where he held his hand.

Using cotton balls and a wet rag, Cloud dabbed at the wound. It didn't seem to hurt Sephiroth in the least, regardless of the acidity of the alcohol and the lye in the soap that the rag had been rubbed with.

He simply looked down at Cloud's hands working gently.

"That is not my meaning. I never wanted you to see me... hurting another human being."

Cloud could no longer hold back the tears, but he dared not show it.

"I am seen... as a killer, and I am. I am a murderer. I live well because I was made to take life from others. And the horrible thing is that it's become so... routine," he whispered, "I never wanted you to see me as the murderer I am."

The cadet, a member of the military himself, had the duty of murder. And yet, regardless of the tasks that had been given him, he never had been able to take the life of another human being. Reliving the recent horror of having to slay monsters, he could barely even fathom the experience of killing another person. A person with a family, a person with a country.

Sephiroth sighed deeply, giving Cloud the signal that he had cleaned the wound sufficiently.

The bleeding had stopped for the most part, but the bone of his knuckles could still be seen through the split skin. It made the blonde's stomach turn to think of the pain that Sephiroth must feel.

Suddenly, Cloud leapt to his feet, a cheek-splitting grin breaking across his face. "Wait here!" he said gleefully as he raced into the bathroom.

When he came running back into the room, Sephiroth could see a green restore materia in his hand.

"I know that it will still hurt... but this way..." he trailed off, shaking his head.

The usage of the restore materia sealed up Sephiroth's wound, but he remained there, holding his hand, his elbows on his knees. His mouth curled up into a sort of a grin, although it held a sort of air about it that made it oh so different than the ones that he had given Cloud in moments of love.

"Remember... when you asked me to take you to Wutai?" he asked softly, looking up to Cloud with eyes of green rabidity.

Cloud silently nodded. To see the man he loved in such a state was almost frightening.

"Tomorrow. Let's go."

The cadet's breathing halted abruptly.

"What?! Hell no you're not!" shouted Zack as he followed Sephiroth through the apartment the morning after the incident was Genesis.

Sephiroth was gathering things to pack, the door to his bedroom closed to the new morning light. Cloud still slept in the plush bed on the other side of that door.

"I'm taking Cloud to Wutai. It has been decided," was his solemn reply.

Zack had arrived at the very crack of dawn to give the usual morning greeting to the pair of lovers, but had found the apartment in bags, and Sephiroth packing them.

He had been following Sephiroth, attempting to tug at his attention and to sway him from his grim resolve to leave.

However, as Sephiroth finally turned to face Zack, his face gripped in ice and deep internal woe, Zack's own resolve faltered. Slowly, and with great caution, he reached out to touch Sephiroth's shoulder.

"For...how long...?" he asked almost silently.

Sephiroth sighed before replying, "Forever."

"I'm coming with you."

The General heaved another great sigh and turned to his packing once more. "You are to stay in Midgar. Look after Angeal."

"No! You guys are... my best friends. Angeal... Angeal will never..."

Zack trailed off into silence. Something inside of him felt horrified at the thought of being apart from Angeal again. He had only just returned from Wutai. Although... would Angeal even care? Angeal would never care for Zack as deeply as Zack dreamed. It just... wasn't reality.

Sephiroth awaited the rest of Zack sentence for a while before giving up on him and moving towards the bedroom door.

"If you wish to come, then you may."

Helicopter blades spinning overhead were never so loud. Never so concealing. Sephiroth had the face of a man who knew he was doing the right thing, but still somehow knew of a dark aftereffect, and the face truly frightened Cloud.

Cloud had wanted to go to Wutai when the war was over. When they could walk amongst the cherry blossoms and watch the koi in the little ponds. He wanted to watch the leaves turn red and orange in the autumn and see them in a wide vista set behind the pagodas. In war, the blossoms, the fish, the trees, and the pagodas were all such different entities. They were their own dark beings, so beautiful, like a poisonous kiss. But this was the only way.

The turk piloting the helicopter was Cissnei, the girl who had defeated Cloud on his first SOLDIER entrance exams. Apparently, Zack and her were on good terms, and she had agreed to do transport them in complete secrecy as a favor to the three of them.

When the trio landed, the air smelled of fresh, light air. Something so entirely different from Midgar. Cloud almost gasped at it, feeling as though it were too thin, but at the same time, overwhelmed with how pure and sweet it was.

Silently, Sephiroth looked down to Cloud, watching the cadet breathe his first breath of fresh, unpolluted air. The look of struggle and rapture that possessed the young blonde was appealing, almost. It gave Sephiroth the distant, foreign as it was, need to nurture.

In the far off reaches of the new land, Cloud could hear the faint twang of a shamisen, an instrument native to Wutai, as well as singing. Frogs chirped in the silence that filled the void.

Zack was even silent, his expression grave.

To Sephiroth and Zack, Wutai was a place of terrible memories. Their comrades -- their friends -- had died there.

"We are expected at the palace soon," said Sephiroth almost inaudibly.

His voice seemed to desecrate the virginal native sounds of Wutai, but just as it had entered the new world, it left.

Cloud cheerfully was unaware of the ominous cloud that hung so very low over Zack and Sephiroth's heads, and looked up to his superior with a smile upon his face.

"Let's go!" he chimed happily.

The road to the palace was canopied by a thick entanglement of bamboo foliage, all swaying and rustling in the soft, warm breeze. The cadet had a bounce in his step, kicking stones as he came upon them, and leaving them just as soon for another stone in the path.

The general's hand was firmly wrapped around his blade, his grip like steel, and his eyes like that of a machine. Each movement was observed. Shinra-leveled 99 monsters were known to tread the zones of Wutain warfronts, and, although this was no warfront, Sephiroth was at a state of unrest.

Zack's only thoughts were of Angeal. What would he think when he found the orders for Zack's transfer? Would he write to him? Did the orders even say where they went? Probably not. Sephiroth wanted his location to be an enigma, unsolvable by the likes of Scarlet and Genesis.

That would mean that he couldn't write to Angeal either.

Would they truly never leave Wutai?

"Sephiroth! Zack! Look!" Cloud exclaimed.

Sephiroth quickly assumed a defensive stance, one hand on the Masamune's sheath, and the other on it's hilt, while Zack drew his blade entirely.

Although, Cloud was merely pointing to the palace that had been their destination.

The palace, having been a previous home of Wutain royalty, was now closed and in the possession of Shinra. However, since it was so far from the current warfront, and in Wutai, Shinra officials had forgotten about it. The Shinra higher-ups would rather stay with the comforts of Midgar than leave for a Wutain palace.

The palace was held up on a system of red lacquered pillars over a man-made pond that must not have been a foot deep, where orange and white koi frolicked in their aquatic domain along with the occasional bit of vegetation. Cherry blossom trees framed the palace's red and golden walls and roofs, making it seem as if it were in a dimension all it's own.

Cloud, laughing aloud with his delight, went running up to the pond and stuck his gloved fingers into the water, gently chasing the koi with his index.

Sephiroth's poise melted back into a liquid grace and he approached the palace, Zack close behind.

The deep feelings of fear, sorrow, and apprehension lingered for them, but the look of unbridled happiness that Cloud displayed for the two of them was just enough contrast to sway their good judgement.

"Let's go inside! I'll cook some lunch!" said Cloud, still kneeling beside the waterfront.

Sephiroth and Zack made an uneasy eye-contact.


	10. Chapter 11

When Sephiroth awoke to the sound of distant gunshots, his skin was already prickling with the ambient cold of the Wutain night air. Someone had opened the wax-paper door that lead directly out to the courtyard, and left it open.

With a start, stark naked due to intimate endeavors that had happened earlier that night, he sat up, his fists balled up and his jaw set. He took a small moment to regain total awareness of his surroundings, and his mind began to race with what had awoken him. With a flash of horror, he looked down in the bed beside him to find that Cloud was not there.

Like a bolt of silver lightning, Sephiroth was on his feet, racing to the side of the room where he had respectfully laid the Masamune up against the wall. The legendary blade had been left untouched for what seemed aeons, but must have really been just under four weeks.

Life had been easy in Wutai, secluded from the societal demands of Midgar and the murderous assignments given to him by Shinra. There had been no Scarlet to grope at his mind's innocence and violate the peaceful affection that had been developed between himself and the cadet Cloud Strife. Zack had mostly kept to himself, writing away in a little journal that he had brought with him. It had surprised Sephiroth because of how neat and organized the little musings were in the book. Ever now and then, Sephiroth would pass by the book as it sat alone upon a table or the floor and flip through it to make sure that Zack was not writing to Angeal. A single letter could give away their hiding spot and shatter the peaceful existence that they now led.

On the hot Wutain days, Cloud and Zack would go out to fish or on a walk in the woods, leaving Sephiroth alone to bask in the comforting silence. The freedom at first terrified him. It was utterly unbridled fear that he had never felt before. The first day that he had been left alone with nothing to do, he merely stood where he had said goodbye to Cloud and Zack for hours, his body locked. He later decided that that must be how it felt to stare death in the face when knowing that her icy claws were utterly inescapable. In the following weeks, during his brief periods of being alone, he had learned to enjoy himself. He would clean the manor obsessively, and if his companions had not yet returned by the time that he could conclude that the manor was clean enough, he would sit upon the terrace that was set above the pond that encircled the manor. He would allow his feet to dangle in the water, the koi suckling upon his toes, and he would busy himself by counting the clouds and coming up with equations for how fast they were traveling and made predictions about the weather, and things of the like. He became obsessive-compulsive in his periods of aloneness, and he quite enjoyed his moments of cleaning and counting. They were tangible things that he could wrap his mind around and fully understand, and so they were comforting.

When Cloud and Zack would return from their moments of their own sort of freedom, Cloud would compliment the cleanliness of the mansion, and Zack would joke about it in that friendly way that was his own.

When the sun began to set, Cloud and Sephiroth often found themselves together and alone, talking about their memories. The days were a blur, and the weeks were mere moments. The respite certainly did not last long enough. Sephiroth would have been content to live in the new routine until the day that age killed him. He would have been happy to die in the little grotto of cherry blossoms and the warmth of the young man he had grown to love.

Yet another gunshot was fired, causing Sephiroth to move faster than he had ever before, making his legs burn with how hard he pushed them toward the sound.

However, just as he had begun to enter the thick forest of bamboo and undergrowth, something hard hit him from the side. Sephiroth automatically rebuked the hard object with a strike of his blade, but a metallic ring signaled that he had been deflected.

It was Zackary.

The two of them made eye contact as if to agree that they both had heard the gunshot and that neither one of them knew where Cloud was. The two of them took off.

A third gunshot, this time, much closer.

Zack burst through the wall of shrubbery first, and came to a complete stop just as he had. Sephiroth, however, continued to sprint.

On the other side of the leafy wall was a Shinra cadet in full uniform, and Cloud, lying on his back, clothed in only a pair of pants that had been bought from the nearby village. Blood was spilling from his right shoulder from two holes of deep red as he lie on his side.

Sephiroth, moving as fast as he was, had yet to notice Cloud as he collided with the shooter, using the force with which he had hit the man to knock him off of his feet. As the man was in midair, Sephiroth pivoted on his heel, bringing the Masamune up to hit the man before the ground could. However, Sephiroth had faltered and had hit the cadet with the blunt side of the blade. The cadet was still cut in two, his innards spilling out onto the soft Wutai grass that, just the day before, whispered promises of happiness and peace.

The natural air, calm and silent, had become tainted with horror and the faint scent of pollution that followed Midgar everywhere it went.

"Freeze!"

Zack's face was already dripping with tears of terror, and he complied with the orders of the commander of the four-dozen Shinra cadets that now surrounded them. Sephiroth could feel the blood that had sprayed onto his skin from the young man he had just killed. It was still warm and almost gritty between the fingers of his fist that clutched at the hilt of his blade. He looked down to the wounded Cloud and decided that there was no one in the primitive country of Wutai that could heal him. Midgar was their last hope.

"Make sure that this cadet gets immediate medical attention," he said as he placed the Masamune on the ground before him.

The other cadets hesitated and looked to their commander, who was dumbfounded. The General had just given him an order, and yet he had been sent to arrest that very General.

"Y-yes sir," answered the commander before a long pause, "Arrest them."

Sephiroth was clothed, though not washed, so he remained stained with blood.

When the trio arrived back in Midgar, the air was thick and heavy to them. Cloud was having enough trouble breathing as it was, due to the amount of blood he had lost, but the pollution in the air worsened it.

The Shinra administration had agreed to forgive and forget, since it was extremely out of character for Sephiroth to go AWOL. Zack, however, the trial was much rougher. The conclusion was to punish him with and obscene amount of missions to almost eliminate his contact with Sephiroth and Cloud. The only reason that he was not sentenced to death was because of his reputation as an asset to the company. Cloud was forgotten about. Shinra cared little for their cadets.

A week after the trials, Sephiroth found himself spending every single moment he had to himself, or even that he would have used to do paperwork at Cloud's side in the infirmary.

Sephiroth took those hours of silence and paperwork as an opportunity to do a great deal of thinking.

It was impossible for him to escape Shinra. They had given birth to him, and they held the contract that bound him by birth to the company. He was just as much a piece of Shinra property as one of their many mako reactors. Save for rather than destroying the planet, he destroyed the people that lived upon it. He took the hours to go over each and every face of each and every person he had killed. Every moment he had spent alone in the manor, so consumed with the fear of being unproductive. Shinra had given him that fear. If he was not given meaning, he had none. What was his purpose on that planet?

The most terrifying thing of all was that he had a purpose from birth, to kill, and yet he had run away from it of his own free will. He had done it for Cloud. Cloud had given him a purpose that he did not unconsciously abhor.

Now that Sephiroth could look back upon each face that he had slain, he silently agreed with his counter-will that he hated Shinra. Shinra was his unwanted destiny. It was his every dream, and his every nightmare.

As a child, Sephiroth had dreamed to grow to be of use to the company. Hojo would tell him that every day that he was unproductive being a child was a day that the company was losing money and a day that Sephiroth was a failure. And so every day, Sephiroth told himself that that day would be the day that he would be a man.

One day, Sephiroth was in the observational room in which he spent the majority of his life as a child. It was a room with white walls, white floors, and a scant few playthings for a child to occupy himself with. The room was a means of observing his mental and physical states. The entire northern wall was a wall of one-way glass. Sephiroth could only see his reflection, but on the other side were several scientists studying his every move.

In the far corner, there was a table upon which was a rabbit that the scientists had told Sephiroth did not need a name. Upon the floor, they had placed some construction paper, a pair of scissors, some colored pencils, and a colorful rug. There were a few other pieces of furniture, like an easel with paint at the ready, but Sephiroth never cared for things like that. The paper and the rabbit intrigued him the most. He never did anything with the paper, but rather simply stared at it, afraid that if he were to try to create something, it would be taken away by the observers.

This one particular day, the young Sephiroth had finally picked up the scissors and put them at the ready to cut the paper. Although he paused for a moment to think. If the company wanted an artist, they wouldn't have made a weapon like himself.

Slowly, he put the scissors to the skin on the inside of his arm and drew them across the soft flesh slowly, cutting deep. Blood spilled onto the clean white floors in what seemed to be a flood to a child's eyes.

"Professor! Look! I'm strong enough to be a SOLDIER! I'm strong!" he shouted at the glass.

Promptly, several lab assistants rushed into the room and began to give him medical attention on the spot, wrapping the wound tightly with gauze and drowning it with painful antiseptic.

As the hauled the small child out of the observatory, he screamed to Professor Hojo who still stood at the other side of the glass, "I'm strong enough! I'm strong! I'm strong!"

When the wound had healed and Sephiroth had been allowed to play in the observatory once more, Hojo came to Sephiroth's cell.

"You're allowed to play in the playroom again," he said.

Sephiroth had jumped to his feet, cheer consuming him.

"But know this!" Hojo said with a raised voice that was full of anger, "A weapon isn't worth anything if it misfires and destroys itself. You don't want to be worthless, do you? The company doesn't tolerate worthlessness."

Sephiroth nodded obediently and followed the Professor into the observatory, where he found the same pair of scissors laying just where they had been before he had picked them up and mutilated himself.

He went straight to them, and picked them up.

Between the blades, just around the bold that held them in place, he could see little bits of his own dried blood, brown and cracked. Curiously, he licked the dried blood before looking down at it once more. It fascinated him.

He spent the hours of his playtime thinking of a way to prove that he was useful and that he wasn't worthless to the Professor.

Finally, he came to what seemed to be a sound and logical conclusion, and stood up, the scissors still in his hands, and took out the rabbit that had no name. He held the rabbit by the neck for a moment, the rabbit in his right and and the scissors in his left.

That day, he killed the rabbit that he had always wanted to name, leaving the poor creature without an identity. A faceless being doomed to live in a cage, and die without a shred of itself in tact.

From that day forward he was not allowed to play in the observatory.

Other days of his childhood were spent in his cell. They kept his head shaved and his clothing uniform. A white lab-gown and a pair of white shorts.

When Sephiroth became mature and entered the phases of puberty around the age of thirteen, he was already aware of the nature of human reproduction. The thought eventually occurred to him that he could simulate the act of coitus, to discover what the reasons were for the bragging about sexual encounters that he had overheard from a group of scientists.

One day, he attempted this simulation under the covers of his bed for he knew that there was a surveillance camera in the far left corner of the room.

The feel of the simulation was surprisingly pleasurable to him. He continued through with the simulation until he came to a climax, and just at that moment, a nurse came in through the door to deliver his lunch.

"Young man, what are you doing under your covers -- "

She cut herself off as she pulled the covers off to discover Sephiroth's hands to be covered in semen. She screamed offendedly at the guilty young man and slapped him, stomping out of the room.

Hojo entered not ten minutes later, when Sephiroth had cleaned himself up.

"You sick, sick child! Wasting seed! How dare you!"

The scolding and the verbal abuse went on and on.

As Sephiroth became older, he had numbed himself. His psyche had formed into that of a syntactical semblance of a human. He had forced his mind to accept and embrace that he was SOLDIER, not a man. He was not Sephiroth, he was an asset to the company.

Looking back on the atrocities, he came to realize through the love and rehumanization that Cloud had exposed him to that the wrongs that had been done to him were not to cleanse him of some strangeness that he was born with, but rather to condition him into a mental and physical killing machine.

Woefully, Sephiroth would fall asleep in the chair beside Cloud's sickbed in the infirmary. If Cloud died, then Sephiroth would have no meaning. He would be a man doomed to be pushing a rock up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and then push it up again, eternally.


	11. Chapter 12

It was the fourth day of the second week when Cloud opened his eyes for the first time since the gunshots in the Wutain forest.

He began with a small moan, awaking from a long, dreamless sleep. His eyes pinched for a moment before opening, and the light of the midday Shinra infirmary nearly blinded him. Everything was a blur of different colored lights and shadows, all incoherent.

"Wh-where...?"

The sound of Cloud's voice shook Sephiroth out of the exhausted sleep that he had fallen into the night before. He had been awake for the majority of the time Cloud had spent in the infirmary, checking his medications, questioning the doctor's decisions, doing paperwork, and basking in a hatred that he never knew he had.

The weeks for Sephiroth had been a long stretch of discovery. His mind hypnotizing itself and uncovering horrors that he had forgotten ever happened. The rape that Scarlet had forced upon him was a mere trifle in his mind in comparison to the millions of rapes that Hojo had given him.

Sephiroth, presently, awoke with a start, the paperwork that had been resting upon his chest and lap as he was leaning back in the chair flying forwards. His hair was disheveled and uncombed and dark circles lined the undersides of his eyes. He had refused to go on not a single mission while Cloud was in his sickbed, so his paperwork load had doubled. The only other person that he had allowed into Cloud's infirmary room was Zack and that was to report on the happenings in Wutai.

Quickly, his hand flew up to his forehead, for he had developed a rather intense migraine that had persisted since the day that he was flown back into Midgar.

"C-Cloud..." he said softly as he forced his hand back down to his side.

The hopeful sight of Cloud's eyes once again open was enough to bring Sephiroth out of his hateful reverie. His world was once again filled with a blissful ignorance to the painful reality of his existence.

Cloud pinched his eyes shut for a moment, trying to focus his eyesight, and then turned his head towards the familiar voice that had said his name.

"Sephiroth? ...Where am I?" he asked in a voice that matched how miserably fragile he appeared.

Sephiroth was silent for a long while, his soul dropping back into misery. How could he tell Cloud that he was responsible for taking him back to Midgar?

"It doesn't matter right now. You're safe," he finally replied.

Cloud smiled softly and tried to roll over on his side, but quickly threw himself onto his back. The pain of putting pressure on his shoulder was too great, and he had reopened the wound. Blood resurfaced like a dark harbinger - a red devil flaunting its control over the poor young man.

Sephiroth leapt to his feet and bolted to the doorway, calling for a doctor before he even made it to the hallway.

Cloud had to be rushed to surgery, and he was unconscious for another week. The anesthetics that had to be used were powerful due to the fact that the bullets had nearly hit and severed a major arterie. It was a fragile and dangerous injury incurable by materia, alone.

Sephiroth spent the slow, agonizing days of that week remaining by Cloud's side until finally Hojo came to deal with him, himself. Sephiroth had been refusing his daily physical check-ups for fear of leaving Cloud unattended, and, judging by the look of sour rage on the professor's face, Hojo would have no more of it.

"Get off your ass, boy. I've had enough of this little fantasy of yours," he said, spitting with anger as he slammed the door behind him and threw his clipboard to the floor. There was a vein bulging on his right temple and his face was going a shade of magenta that not even Cloud could parallel.

"No," said Sephiroth almost silently, his elbows upon Cloud's sickbed and his face held in his palms. His bangs covered his facial features, but not nearly enough to hide the exhaustion and misery that radiated from him like heat from the sun.

Hojo was taken aback for a moment. Never had Sephiroth refused him. Sephiroth had been bred to be obedient and subservient, most of all Hojo. The word "no" in such a context was unheard of, and took him a moment to recover from before he took three measured strides toward Sephiroth and move to strike him.

In less than a fraction of a second, Sephiroth's hand was up and caught Hojo's open palm before it could make contact. He glared at him from the corner of his eye - a death threat if ever there was one.

Hojo blanched and the contrast between his white face and his stringy black hair made him look like a ghost.

"If you don't come with me... the Private will be revoked of his medical attention," Hojo stammered in a fit of fear and anger.

Somehow, Sephiroth saw this coming. He dropped the professor's hand and stood solemnly, taking a moment to kiss the sleeping cadet's forehead.

"I'll be back. I promise," he mouthed; a silent vow.

Hojo cleared his throat and picked up his clipboard before opening the door and setting out for the examination room a few floors up.

When Zack returned to the main Shinra building, he was overtaken by a feeling of need. It was beyond his control - he had to find Cloud. He had to know that he was all right. If Cloud had died, Zack never would have gotten a chance to tell him goodbye.

He never would have gotten a chance to tell him that he was sorry for all the times he teased him, or all the times that he embarrassed him, or all the pressure he put him through on missions. He only wanted to prepare him - toughen him up. And perhaps it was his own little way of telling him that he cared about him - that he was the best friend Zack could ever ask for. He would never be able to tell him anything again.

How would he face Sephiroth?

Zack couldn't even begin to fathom how he would react. It was tied in his mind between going on a rampage the likes of which none would survive, and submitting to self-destruction. Whichever the outcome, there would be unrecoverable violence.

But what was he doing worrying about what Sephiroth would do if Cloud died? Zack wasn't going to let that happen. Even if Cloud was already dead, Zack would reach into the underworld for him and pull him back. He couldn't live with himself if Cloud died.

Suddenly, Zack was running - sprinting, even. He didn't even bother with elevators.

The electrocardiograph scribbled away as Sephiroth ran on the treadmill in the corner of the examination room, Hojo reading it as it printed. Sephiroth's lope was uneven and his breaths ragged and labored. Every test read below his average. He simply could not function under the stress, exhaustion, and worry of having Cloud in the infirmary. Every so often, Hojo would sigh with disappointment and mutter something under his breath.

When the usual tests were done, Hojo sat him down on the table for some mako injections and took a seat in a swivel chair he pulled from a little desk in the corner.

"This is unacceptable. These test results show you to be unrested, unfed, and overall, physically deteriorating. You need to eat, sleep, and train. This isn't an option - this is what you were born for. You think you can just meet some big-eyed child and disregard everything that we made you for? You think that you have that choice? You don't. You are _property_. You are an _object_. Objects don't get to feel," he said as he began to prepare a needle for a bone marrow aspiration.

Sephiroth's eyes were glazed over and half-closed. He was barely listening. Suddenly, there seemed to be much more horrifying things than a needle being screwed slowly into the very marrow of his bones. Suddenly, nothing seemed important.

He dropped his pants and assumed the fetal position on the cold metal table and endured mind-bending agony for what felt like an eternity, the scraping of needle on bone distant and yet screaming as if it were directly in his ear, commanding him to cry out in pain, and yet hushing him silent. He coughed out his last bit of resistance and went slack as the needle was finally removed. He felt as if he were to even exert enough energy to blink he would be done for - simply a body free of a soul.

The spinal tap was next, and when the needle penetrated his skin, Sephiroth could no longer withhold a cry of pain, quiet as it was. The sound of the Silver Elite regressing into a childlike sound of pain was enough to cause Hojo to hesitate. But only for a moment.

The needle began to prod at the ever-so-small space between Sephiroth's vertebrae and it seemed as if Hojo intentionally paused then, to prolong the unbearable pain of the most primeval part of a human being violated. Hojo cackled softly under his breath as Sephiroth stirred gently, his eyes becoming wild with agony.

When the needle was withdrawn, Sephiroth was barely clinging to consciousness - his mind like fingernails on the edge of a cliff. He had to return to Cloud. He had to.

The door was like paper to Zack and he almost had to stop himself from tearing it off the hinges in his mako-fueled charge for Cloud, and yet when he finally found himself in Cloud's infirmary room, he could no longer find the strength to move.

The blond lay silently upon a bed with white sheets and shallow metal bars that restricted the cadet from rolling (or seizing) out of bed. An IV hung soberly from a metallic stand and a clear plastic tube connected it to the young man's inner-elbow.

Cloud was disrobed from the hips up, exposing his bandages that encircled his shoulder and showed little spots of blood. His skin was pale and his breathing shallow.

"Sp-Spikey...?" Zack whispered under his breath, not having a chance against the tears that automatically began to free-fall.

"...P..Porky? ...Come on, Cloud," he moved forwards and put a gloved hand onto the Private's cold chest, "Come on..! I didn't tell you could go yet..."

Zack sat down on a chair nearby to the bed. It must have been Sephiroth's.

"I never fucking said that you could go, damn it..." he said, hanging his head and trailing his hand over the cadet's torso and down to his hand where he grasped at it desperately, "I still need to lecture you about your dreams... your honor. How're you going to be a hero... If you're dead? You can't die, Cloud... please."

Zack's tears began to puddle in a small collection on the cold, white and gray speckled linoleum floor. He looked up and stared, broken, at Cloud's shoulder and the little red spots that decorated the grim sight. He couldn't force himself to look away. It was like seeing a train wreck. No matter how much he wanted to look away and wish that it had never happened, his eyes were glued to the atrocity. How could he have let this happen? He should have kept Cloud inside. He shouldn't have told him that it would be fine to go outside that night. He was so sure that they would never be found.

That night, Cloud had wandered out into Zack's room after making love with Sephiroth. He entered with a smile while mussing his hair, greeting Zack sweetly.

"Good evening, Lieutenant."

Zack had been writing in his journal, about what, he couldn't remember. He made a throaty sound that greeted the young blonde back.

"What'cha writing about?" Cloud asked leaning over him.

"Just about all the interesting sounds you and the illustrious general have been making," Zack replied, an attempt at a joke.

Cloud laughed softly and apologized before taking a seat on the tatami mat beside Zack and assuming a serious demeanor.

"Listen Zack, I know that you hate it here, and I just want to say that I'm sorry. There was just... no other way," he said softly, his eyes sincere and his cheeks blossoming as his face became sad.

"Nah, I'm fine!" Zack lied, "I'm just jazzed to see you two love birds happy!"

"That's not true... You're homesick."

Zack was silent as the truth hit him. He just wanted to see Midgar again. He wanted to see Angeal again. He wanted to see that flower-girl again.

"I'm sorry, Zack. It was selfish of me to assume that running away would solve everything," Cloud said as he put a hand on his shoulder.

Zack remained quiet, his eyes falling to the floor.

"Tomorrow. I'll ask Sephiroth to take us back. I'm sure that... Shinra will be easy on us if we come back... without a fight."

Zack's eyes shot upwards to meet with Cloud's, which were brimming with tears even though he smiled with every ounce of honesty in his body.

"Cloud..." he whispered, dumbstruck.

"I'll let you think about it... I'm going to go for a walk. Is that all right?"

"S..Sure..."

Presently, Zack could hardly beleive that he could have said something that would have let Cloud go off on his own. The thought that Sephiroth would kill him if he ever found out never occurred to him, even as he sat beside Cloud, staring at his wound. He could only think of the last time he saw Cloud before he was nearly killed. The way that his eyes looked half-full of tears as he smiled kindly and waved goodbye.

Zack put his fist through the wall beside the IV and put his head down against the metal bar on the edge of the bed and openly cried, and was oblivious to the fact that the door was slowly creaking open behind him.

Only when a single cough and sound of laboriously delivered breath issued forth from the threshold did Zack turn round to see who it was.

Sephiroth, coated in sweat and gasping for breath, hung against the wall, his fingers raw from clawing his way against walls to find his way back to the infirmary. He was in shambles.

The skin beneath his eyes was purple with a tint of red and his cheeks sallow. Every time he exhaled, his vision wavered and the world became a blur.

"Sephiroth!" Zack cried, coming to his feet dumbly.

The General took a step towards Cloud, but the gravity of his every screaming fiber sending him into the throes of a minor convulsion and fall to his knees before he could find a small table to hold himself up against.

Zack stopped dead in his tracks. Hojo.

"Seph... what..."

Sephiroth looked up to Zack forlornly as he began to rise, gasping out a raspy, "Cloud..."

Just then, a soft sound rang true in the infirmary room that clattered with pans and other metallic instruments fell to the floor that caused both men's eyes to dart to the bed.

Cloud, eyes barely open, had awakened.

"Sephir - "

And Sephiroth's mind failed, leaving the world black.

When Sephiroth could finally refocus his consciousness, the light from the early morning sun was just peaking over the crests and troughs of the skyscrapers that Midgar wore like a suit of spined armor. The smell of smog and morning crept in through the sealant in the window, and Sephiroth breathed deeply before he could remember all of what had happened.

He rolled over, prepared to feel that he was still on the hard linoleum floor upon which he had passed out upon, but found that he was on something plush and soft. A bed? Sephiroth's mind swam in confusion for several minutes before he could open his eyes and actually see where he was.

The walls were clean and white, and there was a window on the wall beside him. The sheets smelled familiar, even good. Something from a dream - a very distant, and comfortable dream. His head throbbed with the memory of the agony he felt before passing out, and yet his bones were no longer screaming.

"Cl...Cloud...?" he breathed as he put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes again sluggishly.

"Did you hear that?" asked a familiar voice from outside the room.

There was a clanking sound that rang about the area and the sound of running boots on carpet.

"S...sir?"

When Sephiroth reopened his eyes, Cloud, clear as day itself was standing over him.

Time stopped.

Suddenly, Sephiroth became aware of every detail of every object around him. The venetian blinds were three-quarters lowered and the light poured in pinkish-orange, illuminating the cadet's blond hair and blue eyes like something from a warm dream. His cheeks were dusted with pink and tears and his brows knit upwards in worry. His mouth hung slightly open as he breathed heavily. His shoulder was covered in one of Sephiroth's shirts - the sight of the bloodied bandage long forgotten. It was as if he had leapt out of one of the General's memories.

They both held unformed words on their tongues for what seemed to be an infinite amount of lifetimes before Sephiroth slowly reached up and put a hand to Cloud's warm cheek.

"I thought... that I was going to lose you..."

With that, Cloud barely stood a chance against the tears as they exploded from his eyes like floodwaters breaking their dam. He sobbed audibly, throwing his arms around the General and crumpling to pieces as Sephiroth put an arm around him.

"Never again..." Sephiroth whispered as his own eyes began to tear.

"I promise," Cloud reciprocated between gasps and sobs.

In the other room, Zack peered through the crack in the slightly-ajar doorway into Sephiroth's bedroom. He simply smiled to himself. He had had enough time with Cloud in the two days that Sephiroth had been unconscious. It was time to leave the lovebirds alone, he thought, as he slipped out the doorway, silently slinking into the hallway outside.


End file.
